Ash Ketchum: Heir to Team Rocket
by DarkPaladin000
Summary: Ash leaves Pallet Town to fulfill his dream when his father, Giovanni, reveals himself to Ash in Viridian City. Giovanni decides to make Ash a part of Team Rocket. Ash's journeys re-imagined as he struggles to find himself on his journey to become the very best, only this time as he also struggles with being Team Rocket's new heir. Features Ash, Serena, Misty, and Brock.
1. His Father's Face

**A/N: I don't own Pokemon. This story sets off after the second episode of the first season of Pokemon, once Ash gets to Viridian City. Everything is pretty much the same except that everyone starts off their journey when they're thirteen instead of ten.**

"Is anyone there?" Ash asked and waited as he heard his voice echo around the Viridian City gym.

He had been told that the Gym Leader was 'out of town' and the gym had a large CLOSED sign in front but he had promptly ignored that just as his mother had told him to do that morning.

Ash had barely reached Viridian City in one piece, and had then almost had his Pikachu stolen by a group of thugs calling themselves Team Rocket, and then had gone for a nice, well-deserved night of sleep before Nurse Joy had woken him up at four in the morning, and told him that there was a phone call for him, and to come quietly without waking up Misty.

His mom had looked worried- which was a novel sight for Ash.

"Is anyone there?" Ash said again. The gym's stadium was empty, and the lights were off, leaving the small windows at the top as the only source of light, which was hardly illuminating at this hour.

Ash frowned. His mom had specifically told him to go to the gym without telling everyone, and it was just past sunrise. Nurse Joy seemed to be in on what was happening, but didn't say anything as she ushered Ash off. He had even left his Pikachu behind for now, as he was healing and wouldn't be ready to go until after a few hours.

Suddenly a light went on, and was so harsh that Ash had to shield his eyes.

"Forgive me, that was a bit… theatrical," a male voice said. Once Ash's eyes readjusted, he saw a grown man with brown hair in a business suit walk up to him who looked vaguely familiar somehow. Trailing right next to him was a boy who was a bit taller than Ash who had red hair, was wearing a dark jacket, and glared at Ash as if he was wondering what the easiest way to beat him up would be.

"Who are you?" Ash asked.

"I am Giovanni," the man said. "Also, though I'm not sure how exactly to say this, but ah, well, I am your father."

Ash blinked. A memory had just came to him- he _did_ know who this guy was. He remembered that one Christmas, when he was seven, a man had visited them at their house. His mom had seemed slightly worried, but the man had been very nice to him and even gotten him a bicycle. His mom had not mentioned who he was, just that he should forget about it.

"I can see that you're in shock," Giovanni said. "I suppose that is only to be expected. I ah, wished to give you a card or maybe a cake for this occasion, but it was, ah, rather difficult to find one that fit our situation." He chuckled at his own joke, but neither Ash nor the other boy so much as smiled. "Well, it wasn't that good of a joke anyway."

"Wait," Ash said, suddenly very confused. "If you're my father, why haven't you lived with us?" His mother always said that his father was out 'on business' somewhere and didn't have much time for them, but she always stressed that he still loved them.

"Ah, a man should of course remain with his family," Giovanni said. "But you see- that wasn't possible for me. Not with my workload- and I wished to keep you two safe."

"Wha- what does that mean?" Ash asked. "And why wouldn't mom tell me this before?"

"Well, you see, Ash, I am not sure exactly how to put this, but I am the leader of an organization known as Team Rocket," Giovanni said.

The name clicked with Ash. "The same guys who tried to steal my Pikachu? And who steal Pokemon? Those guys are _criminals_ ," Ash said with a clear hint of disgust.

Giovanni sighed. "I knew this would not be easy… but you cannot judge Team Rocket based merely on rumors, my son. However, it is true that my position leads to me having various powerful enemies. I did not wish harm to befall you. " He glanced over at the boy beside him for a brief second as the boy gave the man a cold, hard stare. "I learned that lesson long ago…"

"Why didn't Mom just tell me this over the phone?" Ash asked. "Why didn't _you_ tell me over the phone?"

"Phones can be tapped, Ash," Giovanni said. "And you see, your mother could never mention it to you earlier because she was scared that you were so young- and that you could've gone and told about it to someone like Professor Oak or to your friends. But you have turned thirteen and have begun your Pokemon journey, and I felt it was the right time to tell you, and to indict you into the ah, family business, so to speak."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Ash asked.

Giovanni laughed. It was a cold, short laugh, but Ash noticed a hint of warmth in it. "Ah- you definitely are my son. I suppose it is hard to believe, but think about why your mother would've sent you like this to me. You can go ahead and confirm it from her later."

"But why not just keep us with you?" Ash asked. He didn't feel any sort of friendliness, but rather a sudden simmering rage for this man. "We could've stayed with you!"

"No Ash," Giovanni said. "It was far too risky, and I wanted you to have a normal childhood. One untainted by Team Rocket's legacy."

"I- I-" Ash said, unsure of what to say.

"Speechless," the boy said. "I attacked him when I found out, you know. You might wanna try that."

"This," Giovanni said, casting a look at the boy, "is Silver, your brother, or rather, your half-brother, though I hope the two of you will grow up to be as thick as thieves."

"Nice to meet you," Silver said and extended his hand. His stare could've punctured holes through a Steelix, and his voice had as much warmth as an Articuno's breath.

Ash extended his hand and shook Silver's. It lasted less than a fraction of a second.

"You see, before I met your mother," Giovanni said, "I had another love and family, but alas, Silver's mother was killed and I thought that he too, was dead until I found him recently not six months ago. He had been kidnapped, but as you can see, the ordeal had been enough for me to realize that I couldn't make the same mistake with you and your mother."

"Oh," Ash said. It was the only thing he could think of to say at the moment, though he was pretty sure that it wasn't all that he wanted to say.

"With that out of the way, I believe I should give you an actual glimpse of what Team Rocket is," Giovanni said. "You may have heard much regarding what Team Rocket is and does, but allow me to make it quite clear and simple: Team Rocket is simply a tool used for me to increase my own power, and to serve the interests of my family. As such, you will be a part of it as much as Silver currently. He has shown himself to be extremely proficient in expanding Team Rocket's interests."

Silver looked at Ash smugly. It was the only time his cold expression had changed into something else.

"As such, Silver will become my heir," Giovanni said. "But I wish for you too, to become an heir to Team Rocket's legacy."

At this, Silver's smirk was wiped off his face and he whipped his head around to look at Giovanni, who was coldly ignoring him for the moment.

"Ash, you see, Team Rocket has almost reached the zenith of its power currently," Giovanni said. "We can grow little further in Kanto restrained to the shadows like we are. As such, our only options are to expand towards Johto, a goal towards which Silver has very admirably committed himself, but the truth is, there is a limit to how much power we can obtain through criminal means. In order to achieve total domination, we need people in high places- in other words; we need the Pokemon League itself under our thumb. And that is where you come in."

"What'd you want me to do?" Ash asked.

"Well you see, I have tried swaying the League into my favor," Giovanni said. "But many have become suspicious of me and my intentions. I can go no further. What I want you to do is simple, what I believe you've always wanted to do. Become a Pokemon Master. I wish for you to wander the land, and aspire to become a powerful Trainer, and one day, you will attain a position of respect, power, and influence that you can use to help Team Rocket in its goals. I have several covert operatives, but you will be the most covert, Ash."

Out of the shadows in the room stepped out two people whom Ash recognized.

"You guys again?" Ash asked. It was Jessie, James, and behind them was Meowth.

Instead of singing their anthem, the two of them simply bowed to him.

"Well, forgive us, sir, for trying to take your Pikachu," Jessie said.

"It was simply a test, that's all," James said.

"Wait- what?" Ash asked.

"They don't lie," Giovanni said. "I asked them to try and steal Pokemon from you, and then one you'd fight back, to fail and let you win."

"Why?" Ash asked.

"Simple. Didn't Officer Jenny witness you defeating them?" Giovanni asked. "And they are one of my most trusted henchmen and also highly wanted criminals. The fact is not lost that you helped defeat them, a fact that will be apparent to anyone who reads the local paper today. See, Ash, I wish for you to act like a normal Trainer, and pretend to be on the side of those who oppose Team Rocket. But, we will let you succeed against us. In that way, your fame will slowly spread as an enemy of Team Rocket- as a person that no one in their right minds would ever accuse of being in cahoots with us."

Giovanni put a hand on Silver's shoulder. "Silver is a prodigious Trainer. He will take Team Rocket far. But there can be no darkness without the light and Team Rocket can only grow so far as a perceived criminal organization, and Silver lacks certain qualities that you have Ash. Both him and I have long forgotten how it feels like to have a true bond with our Pokemon, but I think that you still have the potential. Also, Silver already has an extensive criminal record and cannot fill your role for you."

"So, you just want me to wander around?" Ash asked.

"Do what you would've normally done," Giovanni said. "Except that you, Ash , will soon become a hero- and I believe that would happen with or without my help. I've noticed one thing about you Ash, and it's your charisma. You can make friends and inspire almost anyone to you, and I want you to make as wide a network as possible. Talk to everyone, simple Trainers, Gym Leaders- I believe you're traveling with Misty, younger sister to the Cerulean City Gym Leaders?"

"Yeah, her name's Misty," Ash said. "Wait- her family's a Gym Leader?"

"She may not have mentioned it," Giovanni said. "But it was easy enough for me to find out. That's what I mean- find powerful people to befriend and help- Jessie and James will help you in that regard. They will constantly pretend to harass you throughout your journey, and you will defeat them and in so win the trust of large groups of people- though I believe that that is something you can do easily. Remember, no matter how strong a single person is, you will always need people to rely on."

Jessie and James both stepped forward.

"I'm assigning the two- no, the three of them as your protectors," Giovanni said. "I've assigned another two agents- Bill and Cassidy, to help Silver. I wanted the two of you to meet before he sets off for Johto to deal with certain problems there."

"Consider us your humble servants," James said.

"Yes, we won't let a scratch get on your son, boss," Meowth said.

"They will keep an eye on you from afar," Giovanni said. "And of course, they will also attempt to cause mischief wherever you go, for you to stop. I'm sure you will gain quite the reputation then. Only remember one thing, Ash, that your identity must be kept a secret- do not talk about it on the phone or mention it to anyone who does not know. Even within Team Rocket, this will remain confined to the people in this room- so should you encounter another member of Team Rocket, do not disclose who you are to them. If you want to talk to your mother about us, do so in a roundabout way."

Ash looked around the room for a second. "So… that's it?"

"For now, yes," Giovanni said. "I'm sorry, but I do have other things to do, though I do have something to give you." He took out a Pokeball. "Congratulations on turning thirteen. Here's a late birthday gift."

Ash took the Pokeball. "What Pokemon does it have inside?"

"A Froakie," Giovanni said. "It's a Pokemon not found in this region, but rather from Kalos. I give it to you as Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader and your next opponent specializes in Rock types, and your Pikachu will be of very little use against him. A Water type would help. Do keep in mind that it is rather temperamental though, however that Froakie is the last in line of a special breed said to be capable of transforming if the bond they have with their Trainer is strong enough-" Silver scoffed at this "-though that may be just a legend."

"Oh, okay, thank you," Ash said, looking at the Pokeball. He was actually kind of excited to get another Pokemon- he had failed to catch another on his first try. Having two of them all of a sudden would be hard to explain… though he was sure that he could think of something to tell Misty and Professor Oak.

"Sorry I couldn't get ya anything," Silver said, not sounding very sorry at all.

"Now Ash, before you leave, a few words," Giovanni said. "I just want to let you know how proud I am of you. Your mother says you managed to reach Viridian City in only a single day- something that took me three. You have the makings of a great Trainer Ash, and I do believe that you will lead Team Rocket into a new age." He sighed. "I know it pained your mother to let you go- if she had but one wish I believe it would be for you to remain ten forever. But that's not possible, son, we all have to grow up one day. Good luck!"

With a warm smile that was unfamiliar to many of his workers, Giovanni shook Ash's hand. Silver made a weird sort of salute- or maybe he was flipping Ash off, Ash couldn't tell.

Jessie, James, and Meowth all bowed.

"Huh, there's one thing though," Ash said. He told his father about the strange golden Pokemon he had witnessed during the beginning of his journey.

"Well, I've never heard of such a thing," Giovanni said. "Perhaps I can ask my scientists."

"I guess I should get back then," Ash realized. "Misty will probably wake up and think that I ran away so I don't have to pay her for her bicycle…"

With that and his mind racing with possibilities, he ran out of the gym.

"Boss," Jessie said as she watched Ash leave, "why not just give Ash some of our strongest Pokemon?"

"Because," Giovanni said, "he wouldn't be able to control them anyway. Also, he needs to grow up and learn to do things on his own. I won't stand around and hold his hand every step of the way- even his Froakie isn't very strong and he'll have to work on it himself."

 **A/N: And that ends our story. If anyone's wondering, no, I will not spell Pikachu or Fraokie with a lowercase letter. That's not how Pokemon grammar works.**

 **Also, I know Froakie shouldn't appear yet, but don't tell me that there are multiple regions in the anime and they don't know about each other until an arc completes. As you can probably tell, I do poke fun at the anime from time to time, though the biggest peeve for me was why Jessie and James stay in Team Rocket despite doing nothing and probably only wasting the organization's money.**

 **This will feature a slightly more 'mature' Ash, but it will still be Ash. See, I see a lot of stories featuring Ash which essentially turn him into Red or just a hybrid of Red/Ash, which I can get since Red and the others from the manga are cool and all, but it does diminish what Ash is and does. Ash will grow up, but will grow up in his own way, not just turning into a version of Red.  
**

 **Thanks for reading up till now, and do please review if you liked.**


	2. Into the Viridian Forest

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm glad to see that so many of you like the premise of the story.  
**

 **Thing is, no, Ash won't suddenly betray Team Rocket or anything, but I won't have him turn completely evil (that would be corrupting his personality too much) but for now Ash will struggle with the idea on what Team Rocket truly is. He's nowhere near Silver's level of cruelty yet.**

The sun had already come up. Ash wouldn't have usually woken up by this time back in Pallet Town, but some people in Viridian City were already up and about.

Along the way, Ash spotted the day's local newspaper at a newsstand. On the very front page was a story about how the Pokemon Center had been broken into- nothing big there, of course that was big news. There was a large photo of the Pokemon Center, and the article even had a photo of Ash on it… though there had been no reporters at that scene earlier. Jessie and James must have taken it and given it to a reporter somehow, or more likely Team Rocket had some agents in the local press.

Ash was mentioned in a line towards the very end. Ash sighed, so this was what his dad had meant when he said that Jessie and James would try to help build his reputation as a Team Rocket fighter.

Ash had mixed feelings about his recent encounter. Sure, it had been great to see his father, but he hadn't exactly been as warm as Ash had hoped, and it had felt more like he had come to Ash to tell him to work for Team Rocket rather than like he truly wanted to see him again. And Silver… well, Ash had never thought he'd meet someone who'd disliked him more than Gary.

Ash decided to stock up on some food before he went back to the Pokemon Center. True, they did give meals to official Trainers, but the food was kind of bland and Ash needed to stock up for when he'd move out for Viridian Forest.

As he went to the bakery, the owner recognized him from the paper and insisted on giving him a free loaf.

"Take it kid," he had said. "It's about time that someone stood up to those good-for-nothin' thugs."

Now, Ash would have refused even if he had actually defeated a group of Team Rocket members, but this felt like blatant stealing now that he knew it had been staged.

In the end, he found himself unable to refuse the loaf without seeming very rude. It happened at the dairy also, and he ended up with a dozen extra bottles of milk.

Some people on the street even recognized him and wanted to congratulate him.

Talking to them made Ash feel uneasy for another reason. All of them clearly thought that Team Rocket was evil… and here he was the son of its very leader!

Ash hadn't heard a lot about Team Rocket while in Pallet Town, but his discussions with other people clearly showed that they thought that Team Rocket was the worst of the worst.

But the thing was that after finding his father after so long, Ash just couldn't believe that his father was an evil person. He was just probably misunderstood… yeah, that was it. And his mother would never have married a bad person after all.

With this uneasy conviction, he walked back to the Pokemon Center to see Misty sitting in the lobby, and who looked pretty mad to see Ash.

"Where were you all this time? It's ten already!" Misty said.

"Sorry," Ash said. "I couldn't sleep with Pikachu like that, and I decided to go for a walk." Ash had plenty of time to think of a lie, and that seemed to be the most believable one.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Misty said. "What's all that stuff you're carrying?"

"Supplies," Ash said. "Here, want some bread? It's freshly cooked unlike what they have at the center."

"Oh, thanks," Misty said and took a bite. "But that doesn't mean that you can get wiggle out of getting me a new bike…"

"Like I said, I'll get it too you when I have the money," Ash said. Truth be told, he did feel very bad about messing up someone else's property. And then he silently cursed himself- why hadn't he asked his dad for a new bike? But then he realized that explaining how he got a new bike away would be a whole lot harder than explaining how he got a Froakie all of a sudden.

Misty sighed. "Guess I'm stuck with you 'til then."

Ash didn't retort as he instead went to go look at his best friend, and he found Nurse Joy along the way.

Nurse Joy looked surprised to see him, in a 'I was sure that boy was going to end up dead so why is he still here' sort of way. Ash had assumed that Nurse Joy was secretly working for Team Rocket from the way she had acted earlier that morning… but was she just a normal person? Had she been threatened then? And just how much did she know?

"Uh, how's my Pikachu doing?" Ash asked rather than risking betraying too much.

"Oh well, I, um, I mean, it's doing fine," Nurse Joy managed to get out. "It should be ready to travel by this afternoon after it gets some rest. It- I mean, uh, he, is sleeping right now though, so I'd advise waiting a while to visit."

Ash badly wanted to see his friend, but decided that it might be for the best to wait.

Instead, he went to go use the telephone. To his annoyance, Misty had decided to show up.

"Haven't you heard about privacy?" Ash asked. He didn't want her around during his phone call.

"What? Why? Who're you calling?" Misty asked and then she noticed the number. "Isn't that your mom?"

She then had a sly grin. "Aww, does widdle baby Ash wanna be alone with his mommy for a while? Do you need to cry a bit? It's okay, I'll leave…"

She trotted off as Ash shook his fist at her but otherwise didn't say anything… for now. He decided that lying to Misty was probably going to be pretty easy given how she was acting towards him.

His mother seemed far more relaxed than she had been in the morning.

"Hello Ash. How did your walk go?" she asked.

"It was good," Ash said. "I saw a familiar face, and I learned a bit about Dad."

"Oh," she replied. "Well, do remember that the walls have ears, dear."

"Yeah," Ash said. "Was what I found true?"

His mom nodded. "Yes."

"Oh," Ash said. "Well, Pikachu's getting better and I'll head off for Viridian Forest sometime this afternoon."

"Well, that's good to know. How was your day?"

"It was pretty good, I guess," Ash said.

"Oh well, I have some more good news," his mother said. "Do you remember Serena?"

"Yeah, why?" Ash asked.

"Oh well, she was visiting Kanto and she's setting off on a journey of her own," his mom said. "So I told her, well, why don't you go off with Ash for a while? The two of you could go on a journey together! And she said yes."

"Really?" Ash asked. He then frowned. Whatever his mom said seemed highly unlikely to have happened by its own accord and extremely unlikely to have happened right now of all times. "Wait a minute… what's really going on here?"

His mother looked uncomfortable for a second. "Well, you see Ash, I've always worried about you, and the moment you went outside of Pallet Town, well, the same day you ran into trouble and almost drowned after falling off a cliff, being electrocuted, and attacked by a flock of fierce Spearrow."

Ash then realized what this was about. "Mom! I don't need a babysitter!"

"I don't mean it like that," his mom said. "I just mean to say is that you're a bit inexperienced, that's all. And lots of things can happen even to an adult in the middle of the wilderness. You remember that story, don't you?"

Ash sighed. Of course he knew the story- almost everyone in Kanto did.

A few years back, a kid who had set out on an adventure had ended up lost in the woods and suffered a terrible fall. He was found in time, luckily, but had to be hospitalized for several months.

The story made headlines, and eventually the Pokemon League was pressurized into raising the age minimum for setting out on a journey to thirteen years instead of ten years in an attempt to prevent further accidents.

"And it isn't like she's older than you or is going to try to boss you around, or is going to try to- well what do you kids say these days? Steal your thunder, I think- she won't do that," his mom said. "She'll just tag along for a bit. And you know what they say- the more the merrier. You had fun with her before, and hey- even Gary has a group of cheerleaders along with him. It isn't like you'll be the only challenger from Pallet not traveling by himself."

"Yeah, alright," Ash said wearily. He didn't let his face show it, but he was kind of excited to see Serena again. At least she would be more fun to be with than Misty. "When does she get here?"

"Oh, in a week or so I think she'll reach Cerulean City," his mom said. "I think I'll tell her to meet up with you somewhere around Pewter City."

The next few minutes were spent on talk about how Ash was doing, if he'd eaten enough, etc.

When the call was over and while Ash was waiting for his Pikachu to recover, he thought it was a good idea to check out his other Pokemon: his Froakie.

He opened his Pokeball and it let out a blue frog- something that Ash had never seen before.

"Froakie?" it went.

The Pokemon cocked its head and stared at Ash. Ash stared at it back.

This continued for several minutes. Neither of them dared to make the first move.

Finally, Ash raised his hand. The Froakie, a bit startled, took a step back, but Ash reassured it with his voice and calmly pet it.

"I'm your new Trainer," Ash said. He then took a piece of bread. He figured the best way to get to a Pokemon's heart was to go through its stomach.

It turned out he wasn't wrong, and he guessed the Froakie had been pretty hungry. It nibbled through the bread, and then some more, eventually polishing off half a loaf by itself.

Ash then went to get a bowl for the milk, and by then Misty seemed to have noticed what he was doing.

"Where'd you get that Pokemon?" Misty asked.

"Oh, while I was walking around Viridian City I saw it," Ash said. "I gave it some food and it seemed to want to come along with me." Froakie raised an eyebrow at that- Ash realized that it could tell that he was lying, but thankfully it didn't do or say anything regarding that and turned its attention to the milk.

As Froakie lapped up the milk, Ash took out his Pokedex, but it wasn't able to give a reading on the Pokemon.

"That's weird," Ash said.

"You know Professor Oak, right?" Misty asked. "Maybe you can ask him about it. But it looks like a Water type to me."

"Froakie," the Froakie seemed to say in affirmation.

"How can you tell?" Ash asked.

"Well, I mean it is blue, and it's feet do look like they're meant for swimming," Misty said.

"Oh," Ash said. He then turned to dial Professor Oak's number.

"Hey, you know Professor Oak, right?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, well, I mean kind of," Ash said.

"So is it true what they say about him?" Misty asked.

"What?" Ash asked.

"Well, I heard a rumor that one day that when Professor Oak was young, he got into an accident," Misty said. "Someone was riding a bike indoors, and it collided with Professor Oak and he got injured as a result, but the accident then gave him psychic powers, and now, whenever someone tries to ride a bicycle indoors he warns them not to do so telepathically."

"Misty, don't take this the wrong way," Ash said. "But that is by far the dumbest thing that I have ever heard anyone say. And that's really saying something."

"Yeah? I'll bet you'll beat that record soon enough," Misty scoffed.

Professor Oak picked up the phone. "Why hello, Ash." Professor Oak said. He was munching on a slice of pizza. "I just got off the phone with Gary here, and he's just found his way to Pewter City already. Are you still in Viridian City?"

"Yeah, I'm waiting for Pikachu to recover," Ash said. "Say, Professor, d'ya know what this Pokemon is?"

Ash held up the Froakie.

Professor Oak seemed to choke on what he was eating for a minute until he managed to find some water. When he found his voice, he said, "Ash! Where did you find that Pokemon?"

Ash told Professor Oak the same lie he had told Misty.

"Well then, I know this may be hard to believe," Professor Oak said, "but that Pokemon is not native to Kanto at all. It is only very rarely seen in the Kalos region. It seems inconceivable that you would've caught one. It makes one wonder how it got into Kanto in the first place."

Ash thought it was funny that Professor Oak kind of bought this explanation when it was a lie, but hadn't really believed him regarding the golden bird Pokemon he had seen earlier even though _that_ was true.

"Well, you know, maybe it was supposed to be delivered to Kalos but it got sent to Kanto instead, you know, the spellings are almost the same," Ash said.

Professor Oak, Misty, and even his own Froakie looked at Ash like he was an idiot.

"See? You've already beaten what I said," Misty said.

"Well, I suppose it's great to know that you've finally caught one Pokemon," Professor Oak said. "I think I'll send one of my aides to Viridian City to check to see if there are other similar Pokemon."

"Okay," Ash said. "Do you know what moves it'd know?"

"I think it would know Tackle of course, and maybe either Bubble or Water Gun," Professor Oak said. "I'll have to ask around to be sure."

"Right. Thanks Professor," Ash said.

"By the way, Ash," Professor Oak said. "I do believe that you ran into Jessie and James, two members of Team Rocket, no? Well, police are looking for a boy, about seventeen, with red hair who goes by the name of Silver who was reported to be somewhere in the area. He's said to be traveling with two other members of Team Rocket- I think their names were Bob and Cassidy."

"Haven't seen anyone like that," Ash said.

"Oh well, keep safe," Professor Oak said.

* * *

Later that evening, just a few hours before sunset, Ash and Misty set off for Viridian Forest. They left the city far behind and as Ash approached the forest he remembered rumors regarding the forest- namely that new Trainers much like himself could get lost for days within.

Ash wasn't overly worried though, not now that he had two Pokemon with him. And though he'd never say it aloud, traveling with Misty did in fact give him some peace of mind that there was someone who was watching his back, even if that someone was constantly nagging him.

It wasn't long before they encountered their first Pokemon- a Caterpie. Ash knew they weren't very strong, but he decided that it would be a good candidate for the first Pokemon that he'd catch.

Misty shrieked the moment she saw the Caterpie. She didn't like Bug Pokemon, and for that matter didn't want Ash to catch it.

But, to her surprise, Ash sent his Pikachu out, and once she was finished freaking out she noticed that oddly enough, Ash was trembling. Sweat beads rolled down his face and he was shivering as if it were cold outside.

"Pikachu, come back!" Ash said. Confused, his Pokemon hopped on back to him. The Caterpie went away, going on to whatever business it was onto before.

"What happened?" Misty asked, slightly concerned. "Do you not like Bug Pokemon too?"

"N-no," Ash said. "I just- um, well, I mean it wasn't that good of a Pokemon anyway, so I thought I'd leave it."

Misty could tell that Ash was lying, but decided not to press him too much.

Ash continued further when he noticed sounds of… crying? Yes, either someone was crying, or had a really bad singing voice.

In the clearing up ahead, he saw a young boy in a samurai outfit. That was hardly the strangest thing; tears were rolling down his eyes and his nose was running.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

The boy got up with a fierce expression on his face before he noticed Ash and calmed down somewhat. "That- they- some goons took my Pokemon!"

"What? Who?" Ash asked.

As if on cue, two people and a Pokemon emerged from the forest.

"Prepare for trouble," Jessie said.

"And make it double," James said.

"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie said.

"To unite all evil within our nation," James said.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love," Jessie said.

"To extend our reach to the stars above," James said.

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" they said together.

"Meowth that's right!' Meowth added.

"You two again," Misty said with a frown. "What're you up to now?"

"Oh, look, it's the twerp and the twerpette," Jessie said. "Look, we were just on our business when we noticed that this boy here had two fine Pokemon that were just too good for him. We decided to correct that."

"And with that over, do hand over your Pokemon as well," James said. "We knew waiting for you in Viridian Forest would be a good idea."

"Yeah right, like I'm going to hand over my Pokemon," Misty said. "Go! Staryu!"

Koffing and Ekans were sent out, and quickly defeated Misty's Staryu. The two of them seemed to be much stronger than their last encounter.

"Go! Pikachu! Froakie!" Ash said. "Pikachu, Thundershock! Froakie! Bubble, or Water Gun! Whatever it is you know!"

Froakie rolled its eyes but still sent out a stream of bubbles at Ekans.

Jessie and James seemed to panic then for some reason, and their Pokemon took some damage from the attacks.

"Urgh," James said and withdrew his Koffing. Jessie did the same. "Well, you win this round, twerp, but we'll get you next time."

They turned to run away, but not before throwing two Pokeballs on the ground. By the time Ash and Misty had picked them up, the criminals were too far to follow.

"They seemed to have given up a bit too quickly," Misty muttered.

"Yeah, well, ya know, who cares?" Ash asked. "The important thing is that we got his Pokemon back."

"Why'd they drop these though?" Misty asked.

"Uh, I bet they did it since they knew we'd hunt them down if they still had them," Ash said. "Or they wanted to distract us while they got away." Misty didn't seem fully convinced though.

"Aww, thank you," the samurai said as he opened the two Pokeballs to behold his Pinsir and Metapod. He looked at Ash and tears began to flow anew yet again. "Kind sir, I don't know how to thank you for returning them to me. You were amazing! Just like some sort of superhero! On my honor as a samurai, I'll never forget your kindness so long as I live!'

"Whoa, whoa," Ash said. "It was nothing really." He still felt pleased nonetheless, even though he knew the whole thing was fake.

Ash and the guy talked for a while before the samurai went off towards Viridian City, saying he had some business there, but he also added that he hoped that they'd meet again. Ash waved goodbye, and half an hour later the sun set and they decided to set up camp.

Two hours later, Ash had still not fallen asleep, though Misty was sleeping like a log.

The thing was that Ash had been raised in a small house with a bed, and now that he was being forced to sleep on the hard ground in nothing but a sleeping bag- well, he just couldn't fall asleep. They made sleeping like this look so easy on TV! But they never showed how hard and uneven the ground was and especially how it was so uncomfortable.

Eventually he decided to take a stroll. He got up, and suddenly noticed a noise coming from a bush at the edge of their camp. From the bush emerged a pair of eyes- and then a whole Pokemon.

It was Meowth, and he beckoned over to Ash with a single claw.

 **A/N: If anyone thinks that Delia Ketchum is being overprotective, I should point out that Ash fell off a cliff the very day he left home. Any caring mother would've either called him back home or insisted on going on his journey with him- that'd be a bit of a weird journey though. Now that's a fanfic I'm guessing no one's ever written (Ash's journey if his mom tagged along with him...).  
**

 **Also, yes, I'm bringing in Serena. Johnathen asked about pairings, and it will kind of be a swing between Ash/Serena and Ash/Misty for now, but they're still only thirteen in this fanfic right now, so it will mostly be for comic purposes and nothing truly serious. As for Pokemon youtubers I kind of don't know any really so that might be hard, but maybe I can see.  
**

 **Again, I'm glad to see that you guys like the idea. This fanfic will be updated a bit slowly, if I want to do it right like Guest said, I won't be able to do it so fast or with a time limit. There might be some delays and I might not always be able to update once every one or two weeks. Thank for understanding.**

 **Thank you for reading, and do please tell me what you've thought about this story so far.**


	3. Rocky VIII

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. If you're wondering, this will deviate from the anime plot a little bit by bit and eventually will turn into something significant and what I meant by the first chapter's author's note was that this followed the anime up till that point. AgitatedDog9288, yeah, I'm glad you saw that. I think in the original games they just forgot to add the part 'Oak's words echoed' or something so it seems like Oak was telepathic.**

Ash glanced around. Misty and his Pikachu were asleep and he tip-toed over to Meowth.

"Hey there boss," Meowth whispered. "We wanted to check up on ya. Jessie and James ain't here- it would be too hard for so many of us to sneak over."

"Right," Ash whispered. "What was that deal with the samurai?"

"Oh, he was the kid of some big hotshot movie producer," Meowth said. "See, ya might meet some important people on your trip, and some people who aren't important at all that you might never see again. But any of 'em could be useful later on."

"Right," Ash said. He then thought of something. "Say, Meowth, what made you decide to join Team Rocket?"

Ash knew that people said that Team Rocket was vicious to Pokemon, but if that were so, why did Meowth join?

"I got a long story kid," Meowth said. "But to make it short and sweet, let's just say that society was never kind to me. Team Rocket's a place for us so-called 'losers' and failures to get back at a world that never cared for us. Look at us- we're basically a collection of rejects- people whom the world gave up on, but Team Rocket gave us another shot."

"Oh," Ash said. He kind of found himself liking Meowth. Meowth didn't act like Jessie and James 'owned' him, but rather as if he were a third member of the team, and Jessie and James acted like that too. They treated Meowth like another human being- something that Ash had seen very few people do.

"Anythin' else you wanna talk about?" Meowth asked. "I'm all ears if you need anything."

"Well, there was something…" Ash said. He hadn't told Misty about it since he was too ashamed, but maybe Meowth would know something. "You see, I saw a Caterpie earlier. I wanted to catch it, but the moment I thought about catching it- well, my mouth suddenly went dry and I started shaking. The last time I tried to catch a Pokemon- well, I ended up nearly drowning after I fell off a cliff and had gotten shocked. I kept thinking about that whenever I thought about catching it… and I just couldn't. I knew I was safe unlike that last time… and I still couldn't. It's fine when I just battle, but the moment I think about catching them I freeze up. What kind of Pokemon Trainer am I if I can't catch any more Pokemon?"

Meowth rubbed his chin. "I think you might have- whadda ya humans call it, oh yeah, PTSD or somethin' from the experience. And don't worry about it, we all have our ups and downs. You won't believe how terrible Jessie and James were when I first met them- didn't know anything, but now look at them! Ash, it might be hard, but I'm sure that over time, you'll get over it- or maybe you should go talk to a shrink or whatever if it doesn't solve itself."

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Just remember, Ash, we're all rootin' for ya," Meowth said. "And we've always got your back if you need anything. I just know that you're going to be a great leader for Team Rocket."

"Thanks," Ash said. "You're a real pal, Meowth."

Just then, Misty began turning in her sleep.

"Gotta go," Meowth said. "Good luck!"

* * *

The next leg of their journey through Viridian Forest passed without any major incidents. Ash saw a Pidgeotto once, but like with the Caterpie before, couldn't bring himself to try and catch it even though his Pikachu had taken care of it rather easily.

As such, as they finally managed to make their way towards Pewter City and out of Viridian Forest, he couldn't but feel frustrated just when he saw an old woman hunched over along the path. She wasn't moving.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked, rushing over. Misty was not far behind.

The woman looked up, and Ash almost fell over backwards. She had dark, sunken eyes, and her green robe looked like it had been made up of leaves from the forest itself. She looked pretty spooky and had startled him.

"Hello child, worry not, I'm fine," she said, her voice sounding like a Honchkrow's. She stood up. "I am a fortune teller. Would you like your fortune told?"

"Um… I dunno," Ash said.

"Come on Ash, we all know that fortune telling is fake," Misty said as she caught up and then ran off ahead once she saw that there was nothing wrong with the woman.

"Wait- I'm coming!" Ash shouted after her.

"Don't you want to know about your father?" the woman asked.

Ash immediately stopped in his tracks. "Wha- what do you know about my father?"

She cocked her head. "I see a dark cloud hovering over him. Boy… your father's life is in danger."

"What?" Ash asked.

"The danger comes from within," the woman said. "He will be betrayed by someone close to him." She then peered closely at Ash. "I see… I see two brothers, as different as the summer and winter. One treads the night and shadows, the other shines in the bright of day. And yet… what are they but two halves of the same whole?"

After that she started staring at the ground again and didn't respond to anything that Ash said.

Ash sighed and ran off after Misty. He would think about what he had been told later.

They reached the Pewter City Pokemon Center at about four in the evening. Misty wanted to relax, but Ash wanted to go and challenge the Gym as soon as possible. Misty yawned and said she was going to go rest though, so Ash went on his own.

An hour later, Ash stormed away from the Pewter City gym, his Pikachu trailing right behind him.

He walked towards an old mill by the side of the city, and sat down on a bench with his arms crossed. He was heaving with rage.

"So, what happened there kiddo?" someone said. Ash turned to see an old man whose beard and hat obscured most of his face.

"Nothin'" Ash said and kicked a rock. "Just that I went to go and challenge that jerk Brock, and then he started off by saying how someone like me could never beat him and all… and by the time he was finished and I was going to totally floor him, he said that the Gym had to close since he had some 'urgent business' and that I should come back next morning. Yeah right. He was probably just scared. If it was so urgent, why didn't he just battle me right off the bat instead of going on about how I couldn't beat him? We might've been finished in that much time."

"You shouldn't be so hard on him," the man said. "And he _was_ probably busy. You see, Brock's mom abandoned him and his family long ago, and then his good-for-nothing father left him to become a Pokemon Trainer. And now, Brock is stuck at Pewter Gym trying to take care of all of his siblings all on his lonesome even though his skills could take him far beyond the post of Gym Leader. He probably had to do something for them. Follow me."

Ash followed Flint to a house, where he saw Brock in a pink apron setting up decorations around the place. It must have been for one of his younger sibling's birthday party or something like that. So that's why Brock had to leave early.

"Huh, I never knew," Ash said. "It must've been so hard not having his dad around."

The man nodded. "The name's Flint by the way, son."

Ash smiled. "Okay, so Brock's name is a pun on rock, and you're called Flint? What're the odds? It's almost as if the two of you are related or something."

"Uh, no," Flint managed to get out after he had almost swallowed a lung. "Must be just a coincidence, you know."

"Right," Ash said. "But still… you're telling me his father never came back?"

"Perhaps he's too ashamed to face his son again," Flint said.

"That's stupid," Ash said. "I didn't see my dad for a long time… and he only met me some time ago." He didn't want to give out too much information. "But I felt mad the first time but now that I think about it… it was great to finally see him again. And… I understand what he did or at least I think I do. I'm sure Brock would also."

Flint stared up at the setting sun. "You really think so, huh kid?"

"Yeah," Ash said. "Just you wait though, tomorrow, I'll go and beat him, no matter how many siblings he has to take care of!"

Flint watched as Ash hurried off back to the Pokemon Center, and he sat where Ash had been, thinking of what could've been and what he should've done.

Back at the Pokemon Center, Misty was finishing dinner when Ash came in and saw Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy! Good to see you again," Ash said.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes… back in Viridian City," Ash said.

"Oh no dear," Nurse Joy said. "You don't understand, that was one of my sisters."

"Wait, you're trying to tell me that every single Pokemon Center in the world is run by a Nurse Joy, all of whom look identical?" Ash asked.

"Yup," Nurse Joy said and showed Ash her family's photo. "And the same goes for Officer Jennies too."

"Well, I guess I've seen stranger things," Ash said. and walked over to Misty.

"How'd it go?" Misty asked.

Ash told her what had happened.

"Well, if you ask nicely, I could lend you one of my Pokemon," Misty said.

"Nah, we'll do this together!" Ash said. "I do have my trusty Froakie, after all!"

"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," said a man in a white lab coat. "I'm one of Professor Oak's aides, and if you have a Froakie, I'm assuming that you're Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes," Ash said.

"Well, I have something here for you," the aide said. "I've come to upgrade your Pokedex. You see, normally the Pokedexes given out to starting Trainers in Kanto have info only on Kanto and Johto Pokemon, since that's what they're likely to encounter, but very recently Hoenn was also added. Since you found that Froakie though, Professor Oak asked me to add the Kalos Pokedex to yours."

"Oh, gee, thanks," Ash said.

"This will only take a minute," the aide said. He took out a small chip and inserted it into the Pokedex and began fiddling around with the controls. "And… we're done! I wish you luck. I'll be in the area studying stones in case you need anything."

"Thanks a bunch," Ash said. Then, he asked, "Have you seen a girl by the name of Serena around here?"

"No, I'm afraid not," the aide said.

"Oh," Ash said. After he finished his dinner he decided to ring up his mother and tell her that he had finally reached Pewter City.

He also asked about Serena, but his mother said that while her boat had landed near Cerulean City she hadn't reached Pewter City yet.

As such, Ash decided to hit the hay early.

After a week of sleeping on the ground, sleeping on a mattress was hard, as in it was _way_ too soft. It felt like he was going to sink into the bed itself and it would swallow him up kind of like quicksand. He groaned. This just had to happen as he was just getting used to sleeping on the ground.

The next morning, Ash and Misty set off for the Pewter City Gym.

"I see that you've returned," Brock said in his usual manner.

"Yeah, I have," Ash said.

"Let's start then!" Brock said. "Let this be a two on two fight! Go! Geodude!"

"Go! Froakie!" Ash said and sent his Froakie out. "Froakie! Use Bubble!"

"Hah," Brock said. "You can blow your bubbles all you want, but against Geodude they-" he stopped as he noticed that the bubbles had done massive damage to his Geodude. "Well, it appears I took that move for granite. Geodude! Rock Tomb!"

"Dodge it!" Ash said.

His Froakie was fast and dodged the boulders with ease, and another Bubble took out Brock's Geodude.

"Well," Brock said. "That wasn't much of an igneous strategy, but I guess that type advantage is simple enough. I've never seen a Pokemon like that before."

"It's from Kalos," Ash said.

"Looks like I'm between a rock and a hard place now," Brock said. "Well then, I won't back down that easily, even against a type disadvantage! Go! Onix!"

"Whoa," Ash said. He had never seen a Pokemon so… big. He imagined trying to bring it to a Pokemon Center- now that would make for a funny scene.

"Go Ash! You're doing great!" Misty shouted from the stands. Her voice, however, was drowned out by those of Brock's many siblings booing at her and Ash.

"You know what they say," Ash said. "The bigger they are, the _harder_ they fall! Froakie! Use Bubble again!"

The attack hit the Onix hard, but it took it much better than the Geodude.

"Onix! Bind!" Brock ordered.

"Get out of range!" Ash said to his Froakie. His Froakie, however, watched helplessly as the Onix, which was extremely long, began to coil around Froakie, with the coils stacking so high that Froakie couldn't get out. "Bombard it with Bubble!"

The attacks began to seriously hurt the Onix, but Brock relentlessly ordered it to bind around Froakie. Froakie let out a cry of pain.

"Ugh," Ash muttered. "Froakie! Don't let up with the Bubble attacks!"

A few bubbles to the face caused the Onix to loosen its grip, and Froakie hopped along it like it would along a rocky cliff.

"Now for the finishing blow!" Ash said. He raised his hand, but surprisingly, found that he couldn't.

It was odd… then Ash thought that it was probably guilt. Yeah, Brock did all of this hard work for his younger brothers and sisters, and Ash could almost feel them holding on to him and preventing him from ordering the attack.

And, it turned out that that was because they were actually holding on to him.

"What are you doing?" Brock asked. "Let the challenger go! This is an official League battle! No interference is allowed!"

"No," one of them said. "We can't. We can't let this mean guy hurt your Pokemon, big brother!"

"Mean guy?" Ash asked. They were talking about him?

"Stop it," Brock said and withdrew his Onix. "Ash, I apologize for that. You've clearly beaten me already. I forfeit. I'll give you the Boulder Badge."

Brock's siblings let go of Ash.

Just then, the doors to the Gym opened to reveal Flint. "Not so fast!" he said.

Everyone just stared at him. "Not so fast… what?" Ash asked.

"I dunno," Flint said. "I thought it would look cool to barge in like that."

"That voice…" Brock said. "Father?"

"Yes, my son," Flint said. "I hope you can forgive me for my failures and for abandoning you. I- I always wanted to come back son, but I could never find the courage to face you again after what I did. But meeting this young man, it reminded me that no matter what's happened up till now, I can still start taking responsibility from here on out."

"Dad…" Brock said. "Well, if you're coming back to the gym…"

"Yes!" Flint said. "You don't need to worry about anything anymore son! Go outside and follow whatever dreams you have. I know you've wanted to go much beyond being just a Gym Leader!"

"Oh, well first of all I need to tell you how to take care of the others," Brock said. "You see, first of all, you need to make sure never to leave a belt on the floor- sometimes they get mistaken for snakes, remember to wake up at five in the morning and heat up the water otherwise they'll get a cold, and oh yeah, Stacy's allergic to peppermints, and Hugo is allergic to peanuts so watch out for those things, and you need to tie a bell on-"

"Wait, hold on there," Flint said. "Let me get a notepad or something."

"Can I have my badge first?" Ash asked. Brock nodded and gave it over to him.

Ash and Misty went back to the Pokemon Center and Ash looked up a map.

"So I guess Mount Moon's our next stop then," Ash said and ran outside. It wasn't even noon yet- that was good, they could make excellent time then- and ignored how Misty was shouting behind him that he better get the money for a bike soon.

As he approached the outskirts of the city, Brock asked him to stop.

"Hey! Wait up!" Brock said. "Look, see, the thing is, I've always wanted to become a Pokemon Breeder, not a Pokemon Trainer."

"What does a Breeder do?" Ash asked.

"Takes care of Pokemon, of course," Brock said.

"Well, I hope you do become a good one."

"I was actually wondering if I could tag along with you guys," Brock said. "You seem to be a good Trainer. It'd be more fun to travel with a buddy."

"Well, yeah, okay I guess," Ash said and his Pikachu shouted in affirmation and the three of them set off for Mount Moon, with Misty yelling at Ash right on their heels.

 **A/N: When I look back at this chapter I see that it has bad puns, Ash almost being smart but messing it up, and corny 'believe in yourself' speeches. This just might've been an actual episode of Pokemon.  
**

 **So I need your opinion here... do you think that the pacing for this chapter was a bit off? I kind of skipped a lot of Brock's original description and battles since I figured that it had already happened in the anime and I didn't want to repeat it. I usually get told that I write too fast so I was wondering.**

 **Also, the scene where Flint breaks the news to Brock that he's his father was supposed to go something along the lines of Star Wars, but I gave up on that idea.**

"Brock, Ash never told you what happened to your father!" Flint said.

"Why... why would Ash tell me anything?" Brock asked.

"I am your father," Flint then said.

"Nooo!" Brock screamed. "My dad's turned into a hobo!"

"How did I not see that coming?" Ash asked.

"Also, your mother is apparently alive," Flint said. "We never knew because you might say... that she was living under a rock!"

 **Yeah, you can see why I cut it out.**

 **Phantomsoul2015, I might do that, but later.**

 **Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked this. I realize that there isn't much Team Rocket going on here, but the next chapters will get into that.**


	4. The Prince of Darkness

**A/N: Thanks for all the support up till now guys. I'm glad to hear that you think it's good to skip the irrelevant stuff, because I won't be focusing on every single random encounter Ash has ever had which usually amounts to nothing in that he meets someone and never sees them again- and I'll try to skip moments I think that everyone's seen.**

Officer Jenny gulped as she felt the ice-cold claw next to her neck.

"You'll never get away with this," she spat.

"I didn't come all this way to here you whine," Silver said. His Sneasel had one of its claws near Officer Jenny's neck, and her Growlithe lay defeated nearby thanks to his Croconaw.

He, along with Butch and Cassidy, had ambushed this officer as she had headed out for Goldenrod City.

"Now, if you happen to value your life, sign these documents," Silver said. He handed Officer Jenny a stack of papers. They were documents that were necessary if Silver and his minions were to wander Johto unhindered and necessary for various economic activities. As they had been handwritten, they needed an official signature and stamp to be valid.

Officer Jenny reluctantly signed and stamped each of the papers.

"Thank you," Silver said coldly. "And to answer your statement, I do believe that I will, on the contrary, get away with this." He snapped his fingers and Butch stepped forward with his Hypno.

"Hypno's usually only strong enough to entrance children," Butch said. "But I'll have you know that this one is a special breed- rather good at wiping away memories no matter what the age group. By the time he's done, you'll be lucky to remember what color the sky is for several hours. Don't worry- the rest of your memories will come back but the past few weeks are going away forever."

"And don't worry," Cassidy said. "You'll probably be found in a couple of hours, or wake up on your own, hopefully before some Pokemon decides to make you its next snack."

"You… you…" Officer Jenny muttered before she fell under the Hypno's spell.

Silver nodded to his two team members as they head off. The papers were necessary as Silver needed to give Team Rocket a legitimate face within Johto. Hundreds of thousands of those documents were signed every year, and this Officer Jenny had probably signed off on many of them in the past few weeks which they couldn't all declare invalid- giving these ones credibility.

Getting started in Johto had been harder than Silver had thought. They didn't have many of their normal facilities like they did in Kanto, and very few of their criminal connections were there.

"What would be a good front for us?" Silver muttered as much to himself as his two associates.

"Perhaps another casino, sir?" Butch said.

"It's been done, and in case Kanto's casino gets compromised we need another alternative since it would put suspicion on our own casino," Silver said. "A dairy farm would be an easy way to do this… but there is already one to compete against."

"The competition can be taken care of," Cassidy said.

"True, but that will take time," Silver said. Suddenly, he smiled. He had come up with a great idea.

* * *

A few days later, Silver watched in satisfaction as construction began in Cherrygrove City.

His idea was a simple one, albeit borrowed from Unova. Silver had decided to open a stadium for Pokemon Musicals much like those in Unova.

As it was in Cherrygrove City there was no Gym Leader nearby to snoop on them, and the city itself had a relaxing air that would draw quite a crowd. Also, people from all over the region would come to show off their best Pokemon… meaning that Team Rocket wouldn't have to go to them to see who hunt for who had the rarest Pokemon- their Trainers would c _ome to them_!

Silver could sell tickets for shows also, meaning that it was also easy to falsify how many they had sold and whiten money they had earned through other activities. And of course, musicals needed lots of staff- make-up artists, lighting experts, extras, etc. which were easy roles for his grunts to disguise themselves as.

The icing on the cake was that the stages would be made hollow, making them places where Silver could hide smuggled Pokemon as well as equipment.

"Sir, there's been a problem," Butch said to him. Cassidy was also with him.

Silver snapped out of his reverie. "What happened?"

"A few of our boys were selling Slowpoke tails, as usual," Butch said. "But then there was a raid, and they're currently in prison in Azalea Town."

Silver sighed.

When he had been introduced to Team Rocket for the first time he had learned of their pecking order. Giovanni was at the very top, and beneath him were four extremely powerful and callous Trainers known as Giovanni's 'dogs of war' -though there were only three now that Mark had died in a mysterious accident near Cinnabar Island two years ago.

Beneath them were people like Butch and Cassidy who distinguished themselves by their white uniforms. Beneath them were all those who wore black uniforms, though there were five ranks even within these.

Silver was unsure where he (or Ash for that matter) fit onto this scale- all that he had been told by his father was that he was in charge over the Johto region, and that he had to bring it under his control.

That was quite literally all that Giovanni had told Silver. There had been no more help or hints- it was just that Giovanni expected it to be _done_.

That was actually quite fine for Silver, since he would've hated to be micromanaged and the freedom gained by his position was only soured by the fact that it meant that he had to take care of all of his underlings. And boy were they needy.

"How are they guarded?" Silver asked.

"Several officers, and Bugsy himself might also be there," Butch said. "It sounds like they've put some real manpower in holding them."

"My Zubat isn't old enough to carry me," Silver said. "We're going to need another way to get there."

"I'll get our hot air balloon," Butch said.

"Sir, let us come with you," Cassidy added.

Silver liked to work alone, but if he was going to be outnumbered, well, some help might not be too bad. "Let's leave quickly then," Silver said.

Butch and Cassidy were the highest-ranking people Silver had and the only ones who had earned white uniforms, which made him think that having one of Giovanni's dogs of war would be useful right now.

* * *

Silver observed the prison through his night vision binoculars. He had been told that ten regular members and a scientist had been captured.

He figured the best time to try and rescue them was during the wee hours of the night when the guards would be drowsy and they could easily slip away. He had considered leaving the imprisoned members to their fate- after all, they deserved it in his opinion for being stupid enough to be captured- but then reconsidered as he realized that they probably had knowledge about other things in Team Rocket and maybe even about his Pokemon Musical Theater. Who was to say that they wouldn't blab if offered a plea deal? Not to mention it was important, he supposed, for the grunts of Team Rocket to know that they had a sort of safety net to fall on if they were captured and it would look bad on him if Team Rocket members were doing prison time.

Because of course, not a single member of Team Rocket had ever been prosecuted. And Silver knew that that fact carried weight- and was why thousands of grunts didn't suddenly defect. Team Rocket had a reputation- you gave Team Rocket loyalty and Team Rocket took care of you, period. And Silver had to maintain that reputation.

The building had two entrances- one out front and another at the very back. The plan was that Cassidy and Butch would charge from the front with their Hypno putting the guards to sleep. It would attract notice from the other guards who would move towards the front, while Silver would sneak in from the back.

Silver put on his mask. It was important that his face go unrecognized now, and he didn't trust Butch and Cassidy to be able to handle this themselves and he had no one else strong enough that he could currently rely on… not to mention he preferred doing things himself. People sort of recognized him- or at least his description of him with red hair. Red hair really made him stand out. He had considered dying it a different color like black or brown... or maybe even silver.

He crawled towards the back door and then spoke into a walkie-talkie asking Butch to enter the front of the building. Once that was done, Silver waited for a minute before picking the lock to the back door.

There was a guard there, of course, but Silver had expected that. His Sneasel dealt him a swift Icy Wind and froze him in place.

Silver crept around when he saw Bugsy.

The leader was snoozing away at a desk, and Silver had not intention of waking him up.

He met up with Butch and Cassidy who were working on opening the locks to the cages- or rather, they were breaking them.

"You're here to rescue us?" one of the prisoners said.

"Yeah, I know those two- that's Cassidy and her partner, Bowser," someone else said.

Cassidy stepped on Butch's foot to stop a retort she knew was coming that might alert more guards. It was hard for people to remember Butch's name for some reason, the only ones who did were those who spent some time with him regularly- like herself and Silver.

"Who else is here?" Silver asked.

"There were ten of us and a scientist- we were all put in separate rooms except for us," the grunt answered.

"Find them," Silver said. "We need to get out of here quick."

"You should just surrender," a voice said. "Otherwise you may land in a _sticky_ situation."

Bugsy appeared out of a doorway, and released his Scyther and Ledyba.

"Go! Go!" Silver said. "Find the others and get them out- I'll hold him off. Escape!"

Silver sent out his Sneasel and Croconaw. Neither side had a specific advantage, but Silver was confident in his ability to take on the Gym Leader.

He heard the others leave behind him- no one had offered to stay with him and they had all ran to save their own hide, as expected of course within Team Rocket.

"Icy Wind! Ice Fang!" Silver ordered, going for the Sycther first.

Both attacks landed and did devastating damage, though Scyther countered by using Double Team. Images of the Scyther hovered around in the air and completely surrounded Silver and his Pokemon.

Silver smirked. "That's an old tactic. Croconaw! The one with a shadow is the real one! Ice Fang!"

With that, the Scyther was wounded enough so that Bugsy didn't dare leave it undefended and its mirror images vanished.

Just then, the flow of battle was interrupted as Butch came back.

"What happened?" Silver asked in alarm, keeping an eye on Bugsy in case he tried to take advantage of this opening. Butch was panting.

"The entire place is surrounded by silk!" Butch said. "We can't cut through!"

Bugsy smirked. "I had known that someone would come to try and rescue these crooks… so I had a team of Caterpie and Metapod hidden away in the forest and had them surround this house with String Shot when I noticed someone had broken in. You're not getting away that easily. Up till now, no Team Rocket member's ever done serious jail time- I'm going to change that! Your reign of terror ends here! This is the beginning of the end for Team Rocket!"

Silver smiled which sent shivers down Bugsy's spine. "… And it didn't occur to you through this plan that this would mean… that you're stuck in here with _me_? I can be a rather unpleasant person, you know, especially when I'm angry."

Bugsy gulped. "I can hold you guys off for enough time for reinforcements to get here."

Silver turned to Butch. "Do you have a Fire type Pokemon that can burn its way through?"

"Yes sir," Butch said. "But the thing is that the fire would spread too quickly- the silk is very flammable- and engulf the whole prison-"

"Do it," Silver ordered. He then glared at Butch when he saw that Butch hadn't budged. "That was an order!"

"Ye-yes sir!" Butch said.

"Finish them off!" Silver ordered his Pokemon. Croconaw took out Scytther with an Ice Fang, and Ice Shard from Sneasel took care of Ledyba.

"Darn it," Bugsy said. "You won't get away with this!"

Silver yawned. "Like I haven't heard that before. And trust me, I don't do things if I'm not certain that I can get away with them."

After he froze Bugsy- but not before he took the Hive Badge (maybe he could sell that thing, and anyway, he had technically defeated Bugsy) he turned his attention to the raging fire about to consume the house and found the others. Some of them had escaped, but Butch and Cassidy were still trapped due to the raging inferno.

"Croconaw, use Water Gun!" Silver commanded.

To his dismay however, the Crocanaw was not sufficient to take out the fire. It had spread too much and was far too much intense.

"What do we do?" Butch said, clearly worried.

"Well, I wasn't going to resort to this, but desperate times and all," Silver said and took out a Pokeball and released it.

A huge Tyranitar came out. Of course, the first thing that it noticed were the raging flames, and boy did that make it angry.

"I didn't know you had a Pokemon like that, boss," Cassidy said.

"Yes, for good reason," Silver said. "I don't know how to control it."

The Tyranitar called a huge sandstorm that cut off the fire's oxygen supply and extinguished it within a few seconds. Silver recalled it before it could go on a rampage. He remembered the last time he had sent it out- a building had collapsed before he had been able to withdraw it.

Silver got out and of course, people were coming towards them thanks to all the commotion.

"There will be more officers here," Cassidy said. "Hide in the woods! We'll get away once they're done looking."

"No!" Silver said. "Not the woods- he could have rigged them with some more Bug Pokemon. Go towards the road, we need to be fast. Our balloon can't carry all of us. We'll move in tight formation and take down anyone stupid enough to stand in our way!"

What followed was a long chase with them barely avoiding or beating patrols at times until they finally managed to beat their way back by sunrise. There, Silver finally took off his mask and the others changed into uniforms made for construction workers in order to blend in.

Silver sighed. Here he was, dealing with all this, and his half-brother was probably off somewhere far away enjoying life. Pah. Some people had all the luck in life, but Silver had learned to make his own luck long ago. He didn't like people in general, and that went doubly so for Ash Ketchum. Even someone as blind as a Zubat could see that his father loved Ash more than he cared for Silver. After all that time alone, right when Silver had thought he'd found a family and someone who'd care for him, he'd been brushed aside like he was some sort of nuisance and shipped off to Johto once Ash had appeared.

There was, however, a silver lining. Almost no one knew that Ash even existed, and once Giovanni was gone- Silver knew that it would be child's play to get rid of Ash and rule over Team Rocket on his lonesome.

Silver had learned long ago that strength was all that a person could count on, and he was determined to be as strong as possible.

For the strong ruled over the weak, and that was all that mattered to Silver.

 **A/N: So that breaks the flow with a chapter devoted to Silver. Not many of them will be, but Silver will be important later on so I thought a chapter showing him was needed.**

 **Fans of the manga (of which I am one) will notice how I completely butchered Silver's personality somewhat and made him embrace his Team Rocket legacy far more readily.**

 **Johnathen- not sure how to put them, but I'm thinking maybe cameos would work? Permanently scripting them in would be difficult. And I'd have to watch a few videos first.**

 **Alternate title for this chapter: The Fresh Prince of Team Rocket (that would work for Ash, but not for Silver).**

 **Alternate lines:**

"I've trapped you!" Bugsy said.

"I'm not locked in here with you," Silver said. "You're locked in here with me!"


	5. Clefairy Tales I

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews again, guys. And yes, I do enjoy poking fun at the anime. I don't necessarily think it deserves it _that_ much, as it is a kid's show and is designed to essentially go on forever- but that means that Ash never does mature at any point. But that's probably how it would/should be anyway- rather than like the manga. They need to keep the anime running forever, and I guess it's easier to have Ash in the show rather than changing protagonists and potentially alienating viewers- so they have Ash run the same tired routine where he always loses at the end.  
**

Ash was making his way towards Mount Moon when he noticed someone lying down on the ground.

"Help me…"

It was an old man in a green robe.

Ash and his friends ran on over.

"Please, just a few minutes over there… my family must be looking for me," the man said and gestured weakly. "Please find them."

"Alright," Ash said.

"No, please, you stay here with me child…" the man breathed weakly. "Others, go. I wish for some company in case I don't… make it."

As Ash watched his friends go away, he tried to think of something that he could do. Use his Pikachu as a defibrillator? Nah, that would never work.

"Oh good, they're finally gone," the man said and took off his wig to reveal… James!

"Whoa!" Ash said. "James, that was a great disguise! I never would've noticed you… it was like how Superman disguises himself as Clark Kent!"

"Oh yes, Jessie and I were very good at disguises," James said. "We were so good that our own instructor didn't recognize who we were in class and failed us since he thought we hadn't attended any of them!"

"Yeah, and Pikachu couldn't tell that it was you either," Ash said. "Even though you should probably smell the same. That's weird."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, cocking its head slightly. It recognized James… but what was this going on?

"Oh, we have a special perfume that masks our scent from Pokemon to a large extent," James said. "But onto that later. I've heard that you managed to get your first badge, and not only that, but the Pewter Gym Leader is now traveling with you! I must say that that's a job well done, you're really expanding your network here. Giovanni would be proud."

Ash turned slightly red. "Well… it was nothing."

"Well, I'd like to share some more small talk," James said. "But your friends'll be here any minute now. I have a mission for you- or more precisely, the Boss does."

"Really?" Ash asked. "What is it?"

"It's nothing too complex really," James said. "You need to catch a Clefairy."

"A Clefairy?" Ash asked. "What's that?"

"Check your Pokedex," James said. "But long story short, Clefairy is a Pokemon from space- or at least people say so. Team Rocket wants one to study about how such a Pokemon came from the cosmos."

"Sounds like something from a sci-fi movie," Ash said.

"Well yes, but Team Rocket wants one for more ah, practical purposes," James said. "There is a particular Pokemon rumored to be from space that we're interested in. We want to study the Clefairy's behavior, but the ones who have been with Trainers for too long stop behaving as they did in the wild. So, we want a fresh one, but our current team sent for the task hasn't had much success. So that's where we want you to come in."

"Oh," Ash said.

"Do you still have trouble catching Pokemon?" James asked.

"I-I think I've gotten better," Ash said. "But I haven't caught another one yet."

"Well, if you think it'll be too hard I could-"

"No, I can handle it," Ash said with a conviction that he was surprised he had. "I'm sure I can."

"Just make sure that no one sees you catching it or people will wonder where it went, more specifically, your friends," James said. "After you find it and go towards Cerulean City, we'll come to pick it up. And another thing, you may run into some Rocket grunts, but remember that they don't know about you."

"Right," Ash said. "Hey- I wanted to ask something- how did you know I was going to be here? I mean, I could've taken some other path."

"Your Froakie's Pokeball has a tracer attached to it," James said nervously. "I hope you don't mind- the Boss thought it was a good idea and it kind of does help us stay in contact with you…"

"Okay, I don't mind I guess," Ash said. He guessed something like that was just the price of being Giovanni's son. Plus, it showed that like his mom, his dad did care for him. "By the way, were you or Jessie also the old fortune teller I met earlier?"

"No? What fortune teller?" James asked.

"Forget about it, it was probably nothing," Ash said.

"Jessie and I will try disguising ourselves," James said. "We'll dress up in karate uniforms and we'll say that we teach Mega Punch and Mega Kick outside of Mount Moon."

James then put on his wig. "I think I see a dust cloud. Someone's coming, probably your friends."

James then ran off.

"Wait! What do I tell them about what happened to you?" Ash called out.

Pikachu still looked confused.

"Hey! Where'd he go?" Brock asked.

"We looked everywhere for his family but all we saw were a bunch of Trainers," Misty said. "No one knew him."

"He- uh, well, he," Ash said, wondering what he should make up. "He suddenly said that he felt positively better and then sprinted away."

Both Brock and Misty gave Ash blank looks.

"Does he usually say stuff like this?" Brock asked Misty.

"I've been with him for only a few weeks," Misty said. "But I think, yes. I don't think he's taking any medication or something like that."

"Ash, what really happened?" Brock asked.

"I dunno," Ash said, wondering about what it was that he should say. "Maybe he was a ghost or something and he just hangs around random paths like that…"

"He left a trail of footprints," Brock pointed out. "Yeah, but it does look like he ran off. That's weird."

"Do you still have your wallet, Ash?" Misty asked. "Maybe he was a conman or something?"

'You don't know the half of it,' Ash thought but he said, "Nah, he didn't take anything. I say we forget about it and head for Mount Moon."

"Still pretty weird though," Brock said.

Pikachu looked even more confused than ever before. Ash was going to have to explain things to him later on.

As they continued walking, Ash was preoccupied with thinking about just how he was going to catch a Clefairy. He hoped he had gotten over the incident with the Spearow before, and he absentmindedly played with an empty Pokeball in his hand. It was easy enough to imagine doing it, and unlike before in Virdian Forest, his hand didn't seem to clench up at the very thought of it. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to do it.

Ash was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't pay attention to what Brock or Misty were doing, and as a result, he didn't see the smoke until it had almost filled the horizon.

"Ash! What're you waiting for? Let's go see what's up!" Misty said.

Ash snapped out of his reverie and chased after them until they found the source of the fire: a Pokemon Center that had recently been ablaze, with the few remaining embers still snorting in the mid-day heat.

Strayed all across the plains surrounding the burning building were several Pokemon in hospital beds and several Trainers scattered here and there.

"What happened here?" Brock asked.

"Let's find out," Ash said. Further away, he spotted a rather familiar figure in uniform- or rather, two of them.

"Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny," Ash said as he ran over to them. Nurse Joy looked just like here sisters save for the fact that it appeared that part of her uniform had been burnt, and she looked like she had been crying recently.

"Is there something wrong, Trainer?" Officer Jenny asked. She then frowned. "You look familiar somehow…"

"Yeah, back in Viridian-" Ash said before he realized that this was probably a different Officer Jenny… but then how did she know him?

"Who burnt this place down?" Misty asked.

"It was Team Rocket," Nurse Joy said. Her voice was sore and raspy. "They came… and wanted for me to heal the- their Pokemon. But I said I wouldn't- I can't legally- only officially recognized Trainers are allowed to get their Pokemon healed, so they started threatening me. They threatened to burn down the Pokemon Center, and they did. I don't think they meant it, they were probably just starting a small fire as a threat, but they noticed that it was getting hotter and uncontrollable so they ran away. We managed to get everyone out and all, but the Pokemon Center won't be of any use anymore."

"How many of them were there?" Ash asked.

"Around ten of them and they were wearing black uniforms," Nurse Joy said. "But that's not all. They also took a Trainer hostage… someone who was brave enough to stand up to them. They told us not to follow them."

"And all of this happened two hours ago, correct?" Officer Jenny asked.

Nurse Joy nodded.

"Darn those Team Rocket goons," Misty said. "They went ahead and burnt down a Pokemon Center!"

Ash nodded. He was guessing that these were the grunts that James had mentioned who had failed to catch a Clefairy. "And they took a Trainer hostage too. And all he did was stand up to them!"

Nurse Joy shook her head. "Not he, she. It was a girl. She had arrived just a few minutes before Team Rocket did. I don't remember much of what she said, but she sounded and looked like she came from Kalos."

Ash felt as if a lead brick had slid inside his stomach. "A girl from Kalos?"

Nurse Joy nodded. "She was about your age too."

Ash opened up his Pokedex and began shifting through a section where there were photos stored. His mother had given him a current photo of Serena so he'd know what she looked like now. "Did she look like this?" Ash asked, holding the photo up.

"Who's that?" Misty asked. She narrowed her eyes. "Wh- why do you have her photo stored in your Pokedex?" Ash ignored her. He had bigger things to worry about.

"My dear yes- did you know her somehow?" Nurse Joy asked.

"She's a friend of mine," Ash said. He then beckoned to his Pikachu. "Those thugs'll still be in Mount Moon, right?"

"Wait- you cant' seriously be thinking of going after them!" Nurse Joy said. "They're a criminal organization… you're just a thirteen year old child!"

"I've dealt with 'em before," Ash said. "And Brock here is a Gym Leader. I guess Misty might be sort of useful too." Misty punched Ash in the arm. "Right Brock?"

Ash turned around to see Brock, who was staring between Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny like a child would between pizza and ice cream. His face had turned oddly red and he had a vacant expression.

"Oh, now I remember you!" Officer Jenny said. "You stopped Team Rocket from trashing that Pokemon Center back in Viridian City- I saw your photograph in a paper! And is he really a Gym Leader?"

Brock snapped out of his reverie and got on his knees. "Nurse Joy! You don't know how much it tears my heart to see you in this condition. By my honor, I will right this wrong! Officer Jenny, worry not, I'll take care of Ash while we go and hunt down these miscreants! No road will stop us, time itself will pose no obstacle- the very wrath of mother nature herself won't cause us to dawdle a bit in our quest for truth and justice!"

Ash could swear that Brock's eyes were almost on fire. "Brock, I nearly creamed you in our last fight," Ash said. "So what makes you think that _you're_ going to be protecting me?"

"Uh… alright," Officer Jenny said, not sure of what Brock meant exactly. "If you want to help, well, wait for me- I'll get some backup and maybe you kids can assist me."

Nurse Joy turned to Ash. "I think I've heard of you too… my sister in Viridian City told me about a Trainer who had protected her Pokemon Center. I just want to thank you… and please, do something about Team Rocket. They can't be allowed to go unpunished forever."

"Just wait here," Officer Jenny said. "I'll be done collecting intel in about an hour, and then we can formulate a strategy and leave."

The moment Officer Jenny moved out of earshot and turned her back to them, Ash ran off towards the entrance to Mount Moon.

"Wait up! Didn't you hear what she said?" Misty asked.

"I don't have time to wait!" Ash shouted back. His mind was reeling- there was far too much happening all at once.

As far as he could figure of the situation, these goons were low-level workers who were separate from Jessie and James and therefore didn't know about him- meaning that he would have to fight them for real. And that meant that it was possible that Serena was going to be hurt.

He tried not to think about that, and instead doubled his speed with his Pikachu matching it right besides him. He didn't want Officer Jenny tagging along, his task would be difficult enough as it was without someone like her nosing in. He didn't want to really expose the Team Rocket grunts or to see them arrested.

But if they had done something to Serena, he thought darkly, then it wouldn't matter if they worked for his dad. They would pay, as simple as that.

"Hold up, I'm coming!" Brock shouted, surprisingly nearly keeping apace with Ash. "I promised Officer Jenny I'd look after you!"

"Boys…" Misty sighed softly as she saw the dust cloud generated by them recede further and further away. She started running towards them too, albeit much more slowly. "Hey! Wait up! I'll come too, you know!"

Ash found himself stopping- his body couldn't run much faster even if he wanted too.

And then he remembered that on top of everything, he still also had to catch a Clefairy. And that too despite his problem in trying to catch Pokemon, and it had to be when no one would see him.

Why couldn't things ever be easy?

 **A/N: I've heard that Team Rocket finally beat Ash in the anime. It only took them what, like a thousand episodes? Strangely enough, while Team Rocket usually is defeated pretty quickly, I remember at least some episodes in which they were able to hold their own against Ash and his comrades for at least some time... making me wonder if they ever were really holding back.**

 **Alternate Lines:**

"I couldn't recognize you at all," Ash said. "It was like when Superman disguises himself as Clark Kent!"

"In other words you can't believe that no one's noticed up till now?" James asked.

 **Even More Alternate Lines:**

"I can't believe it," Ash said, tears almost coming to his eyes. "My first mission as a member of Team Rocket! My first mission! My mother would be so proud!"


	6. Clefairy Tales II

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys. Nice to see that you think it's great that everyone's in character, AveragePichu.**

There are only three things that are infinite: human stupidity, the universe, and the number of Zubats located in Mt. Moon.

Ash had run into hordes of them- they formed a never-ending sea of wings and noise that completely surrounded Ash and his comrades like the ocean around the tiniest of islands.

Thankfully, they didn't seem to want to bother them too much, but it had been over half an hour and Ash hadn't seen any sign of either Serena, Team Rocket grunts, or a Clefairy.

"This place is huge, Ash," Misty said. "We should've waited for Officer Jenny. We could be here for days and not find anything."

"Then we just need to split up then," Ash said. "Three separate people can scan this place better than a single group."

"Sp-split up?" Misty asked hesitantly. It was obvious from her expression- though she'd never say it aloud, that she didn't want to wander around a dark cave with Arceus-knows-what in it all alone. "Wouldn't it be safer if we were to stay together?"

"But we'll never get anything done that way! We need to split up, and I can't do much with you two weighing me down!" Ash snapped back angrily. His voice echoed around the cave unnaturally; the Zubats rustled as the loud noise disturbed them, and Misty had an odd expression on her face. Almost as if she was about to cry.

"Well, I don't know much about going in alone," Brock said, trying to bring back some sense into the conversation. "And there are way more of them than there are us Ash."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going on off on my own," Ash said and angrily stormed off.

Once he had taken fifty paces and he couldn't see his friends any longer Ash immediately felt guilty.

For one, he had gone and let out most of his pent-up anger on Misty. It wasn't her fault that Serena had been taken- and he had just gone and been a bit of a jerk to her. He couldn't believe he had just called both her and Brock dead weight- and after all that Misty had done for him. He hurt face swam in front of her eyes- and he remembered how Brock seemed disapproving too.

While he tried justifying his behavior in his head, in the end he realized that he had messed up and made a note to apologize to her once this was all over.

Secondly, Ash knew that he had to do this thing alone. It would've been impossible to catch a Clefairy in secret with them breathing down his neck.

He was so occupied with these thoughts, however, that he didn't notice the clue until Pikachu started squeaking when he found something stuck to a rock.

Ash glanced at it- it seemed to be a piece of black cloth. It must have gotten torn off of someone's clothes. Black, just like a Team Rocket Grunt's uniform- though that really didn't mean anything in and by itself, lots of people wore black clothes- including Ash for that matter with his black shirt. But it did mean that people had come along this trail, and it was the first thing even resembling a clue that he had found in this tunnel for so long.

Ash kept going along his path until he spotted a source of light that was separate form his flashlight- and it was coming from around a corner. As he crept closer, he could hear voices.

Ash neared the corner and heard two people talking.

"Please! Just let me go!" a young female voice said.

"Not so easily!" a different female voice said. There was a shout of a Pokemon.

Immediately, visions of Serena being tortured entered Ash's mind and in the heat of the moment he didn't care how many Rocket Grunts he was up against.

"Stop this right now!" Ash shouted and stepped around the corner with his Pikachu following him.

He beheld a sight different from what he'd expected- on the cave's floor were lying three Team Rocket Grunts- all of them tied up with rope and standing in front of them with a weird fox Pokemon next to her was… Serena.

Serena looked around and then her eyes widened. "Ash! Is that you?"

Ash realized that this was the second voice that he had heard. The first one had probably come from one of the grunts Serena had taken out.

"Yeah," Ash said. "I was looking for you…"

"Oh Ash," Serena said, and immediately ran over and hugged Ash. It lasted a bit too long for Ash's comfort, but he supposed that with Serena scared and all, it would've been rude to try and pry her off.

"I thought you'd been kidnapped," Ash said. "And I came running as soon as I found out."

"Oh, I was," Serena said after she let him go. "So I was taken and did the whole 'hopeless maiden' act until they let their guards down- and then I took my Fennekin and took them out while the rest of them went to scout for some fossils."

"Oh," Ash said. "That's pretty cool."

"And, oh Ash," Serena said with her face blushing, "Did you really come running all this way just to save me?"

"You bet I did," Ash said. "I'd never leave a friend of mine behind."

Serena's face fell considerably at the use of the word 'friend' though Ash couldn't figure out why.

"Oh," she said. "Well, I was just about done with these guys- did you know that no Team Rocket members have ever done jail time? Well, I'll be sure to make sure that these guys pay."

"Where are the others then?" Ash asked.

"I told you- they said they were going out to look for something, something about fossils," Serena said.

"You sure?" Ash asked. "Nothing about Clefairy?"

Serena frowned. "Clefairy isn't that rare Ash- I don't know why'd they be after something like that. I mean, it's really just a pet with not much battle potential."

"Right, right," Ash said, making a note that he couldn't let any more information on Team Rocket slip up.

"These guys have a lot of equipment," Serena said, pointing down a tunnel at the end of which another artificial light source was visible. "Come on, let me show you what's there."

Her Fennekin trailed behind her, but once Ash was sure that she wasn't looking, he trailed off towards the nearest Team Rocket member.

"Don't say anything," Ash said. "Don't even breathe wrongly." Ash grabbed a knife and cut the ropes binding him. "I'm letting you off just this once- and when I do- take you and your friends away from here and make sure never to cross paths with me again. You're lucky you didn't hurt her, otherwise…" Ash trailed off.

The Rocket Grunt freed his wrists and stared at Ash. A thousand questions went through the Grunt's mind, but the foremost thought he had was surprise at what he saw in this young boy's eyes. There was something dark in there- a potential to develop into extreme ruthlessness. The grunt gulped- those intense eyes sent a shudder down his spine. He couldn't place it exactly- but he had felt such a cold stare sometime before. He had a feeling that the person who had those eyes was capable of extreme cruelty if pushed too far.

Ash left them before Serena could notice that he was trailing too far behind, but gave orders to Pikachu to guard their rear in case the three members were stupid enough to try and attack them from behind.

The tunnel led to a small hideout covered with maps and detailed documents where there seemed to be plans about Team Rocket inscribed there.

"Isn't this great?" Serena asked. "We need to go show Officer Jenny all this!"

"Right," Ash said while wondering how he could possible dispose of all of this without Serena realizing it. Nothing came to mind for now, so he said. "Yeah, see, I was traveling with two other people and we split up to try and save you."

"Then they might've run into the other members!" Serena gasped. "There's no time to lose, we have to find them!"

As they came back to where the Team Rocket Grunts had previously been bound, Serena noticed the very obvious fact that they were gone.

"Drat!" Serena said. "And after all they did too! Those slippery snakes got out of this one!"

"Yeah, but let's focus on finding Misty and Brock," Ash said.

" _Misty_ and Brock?" Serena asked. "One of them is a, a… girl?"

"Yeah, I accidentally ruined her bike so she's been following me around until I manage to pay for it," Ash said. "And Brock used to be a Gym Leader."

"Really?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, I even have his badge," Ash said, showing it to her.

"Wow, you've already gotten started already," Serena said, impressed. "I just barely got Fennekin and you've made so much progress!"

"It's not really that much," Ash said. "Just one badge. C'mon, let's go look for them."

* * *

Brock wasn't really sure what to say to Misty. Even he could tell that she was upset- and that was being as dense as he was- but he wasn't exactly very good at trying to get anyone older than ten to cheer up. Ice cream usually worked with his brothers and sisters, but something told him that it wouldn't with Misty.

"Hey Misty-" Brock finally managed to cough up when he felt that the ongoing silence had been awkward enough when Misty froze as she saw something move.

It was a Pokemon that Brock recognized as Paras- he had heard that the mushrooms it carried were great for recipes on one cooking show.

However, these thoughts were drowned out as Misty let out a high-pitched scream that echoed all around the cave as she ran away from the Paras as fast as she could.

"Wait up!" Brock shouted, realizing that this was like when he and Ash had run off towards Mt. Moon with Misty behind them, except the roles had been reversed here.

Brock actually lost sight of Misty a couple of times and was only able to find her thanks to the sound of her panting.

"I… I don't like Bug Pokemon," Misty said.

"I'll say," Brock said. He rubbed his sides- they were sore and he felt like his lungs were burning.

Well, if there was one good thing about this, it was that Misty had forgotten about Ash for a few seconds.

"Well, I think we should keep looking," Brock said, before he realized that he now had no clue where he was.

"Aww! Darn it!" came a cry from nearby.

"Let's check it out," Brock said cautiously.

They didn't have to go far as someone practically ran into them. It was someone who was wearing an outfit kind of like Ash, but the hat and clothes were red and styled slightly differently.

"Oh my god no, I don't want another battle," the guy said as he saw Brock and Misty.

"What?" Misty asked.

"Oh, you don't want to fight?" the guy asked. "By the way, would you guys happen to have any Repels on hand? I swear this is the last time I enter a dungeon without a few."

"No, aren't they bad for the environment though?" Brock asked. "I've heard that Repels have been negatively affecting Pokemon in their natural habitats."

"Yeah, but I kind of hate having to fight them almost all the time," the guy said with a weary sigh. "My name's Emile, by the way. Who are you folks?"

"Emily? That's your name?" Misty asked.

"No, no, Emile," Emile said.

"Well, I'm Misty," Misty said.

"Brock," Brock said.

"Oh, you're the Pewter Gym Leader, aren't you?" Emile asked. "I was going to go fight you but I thought about getting to Cerulean City first."

"I was," Brock said. "But I'm not anymore."

"Anyway, I've been stuck here forever," Emile said. "Seriously, I can't seem to find a way out."

"Have you seen Team Rocket?" Brock asked. "You know, people wearing-"

"Yeah, yeah, a bit too many of them," Emile said. "I fought two, they were all going on and on about fossils but all they had were a few Rattata and Zubat so I took care of them easily."

"Have you seen a friend of ours?" Brock asked. "He's about your height, kind of reminds me of you really, or a girl around thirteen?"

"No," Emile said. "Why?"

"She was kidnapped," Misty explained. "And we've came here to look for her, but one of our, well, _friends_ decided to go out on his own."

"Huh, sounds like something I'd do," Emile said. "You know, try to take on a crime syndicate by myself even though I'm a thirteen year-old."

Just then, the entire cave shook.

"Earthquake!" Brock suddenly shouted and released his Onix, which, within a second, had formed a barrier with its body over the three Trainers as the roof of the cave shook.

Thankfully, Onix had been unnecessary as no stalactites had fallen down.

"That was no earthquake," Emile said. "It lasted only a few seconds. So it was man-made."

"Team Rocket," both Brock and Misty said.

They followed where they thought the explosion had come from, and they found themselves walking along a winding passage until they came upon several Team Rocket members operating a drill that was giving off a low hum as it cut into the rock.

There was also some dynamite with them- explaining the explosion that they had felt earlier.

"Okay, what we need to do is calm down, I don't think they've seen us yet," Misty said. "So since they outnumber us, I say that we should quietly sneak up on them and ambu-"

She never got to finish her sentence as Emile decided that it was a good idea to run ahead and scream, "Hey! Rocket Morons! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

Mist face-palmed. Well, Ash wasn't here, but it appeared that he had a twin brother from another mother.

Misty and Brock joined in on the fight, while Emile sent out a Bulbasaur and Spearow to the fight.

There were nine of the Team Rocket Grunts, and as they mainly had Rattata and Zubat, they weren't hard to take down. Except for one who had a Magnemite.

"No, not a Magnemite!" Emile said. "Those things are Steel types! This is totally ruined!"

"He's very dramatic, isn't he?" Brock said.

Mist frowned as first her Goldeen and then her Staryu were eventually bogged down and taken out. The Rocket Grunts were getting lucky with Supersonic and getting their own Pokemon to attack each other, and that Magnemite seemed to have an advantage against all of their current Pokemon.

"No, Spearow!" Emile shouted as the bird Pokemon fainted. There were still four of the Grunts with usable Pokemon. Emile finally seemed to realize that this had been a bad idea.

However, seemingly from nowhere, a flame came and struck the Magnemite, knocking it out.

"Not so fast!" a girl said as she walked in with a weird fox Pokemon that looked like it was a Fire type, and right besides her, was Ash!

"Froakie! Go!" Ash said.

With the two new Trainers joining the battle, the tide turned on the Rocket Grunts. As a matter of fact, during the battle, Emile's Bulbasaur evolved into Ivysaur, and Ash's Froakie found itself a Frogadier.

"This isn't the last you've seen of us," one of them snarled as they were defeated and cornered. He dropped a smoke bomb on the floor, and by the time it cleared, they were long gone.

"Nice to know we found you guys," Ash said.

Misty realized that she did as a matter of fact recognize the girl- it was the one who Ash had been looking for!

"Whoa, buddy, you sure came in time," Emile said. "Thanks for that! You really saved my hide there."

"No problem," Ash said. "Uh, but who are you exactly?"

"Emile, aspiring Pokemon Master," Emile said. "And you would be?"

"Oh, I'm Serena," Serena said. "And this is Ash."

Ash watched as the other people began the normal array of introductions when something caught his eye- in the shadows, he saw a silhouette. It looked remarkably like that Gengar he had seen on television once- but Gengar weren't here in Mt. Moon.

There was a Pokemon, however, that closely resembled a Gengar- or at least it's outline did.

A Clefairy. Ash waited until the others were examining the machine left by Team Rocket to search for some clues when he turned towards the shadow- which ran away.

Stealthily, making sure not to be seen, Ash trailed after it. He felt like he would've liked Emile and would've talked to him and maybe even challenged him to a battle in any other sort of circumstance, but those thoughts were driven from his mind.

He did have a mission to complete, after all.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Emile is based off of Chuggaaconroy's Firered play where he uses a Bulbasaur and Spearow similarly. We may seem him again.**

 **Do please tell me what you thought with a review.**


	7. The Crossroads at Cerulean City

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! I didn't know that Emile nicknames his Pokemon- he didn't do it in the video I saw.**

Ash followed the Clefairy through all the twists and turns that Mt. Moon had for him. He even lost sight of it for a minute before he realized that he had two Pokemon whose sense of smell would be invaluable in this situation, and then Pikachu was leading him away with its nose, which was a good thing considering the fact that the flashlight that Ash had was almost running out by now.

Ash they approached a narrow tunnel, Ash released his Frogadier which hopped over the Clefairy and blocked its exit. Ash stood on the other end of the narrow tunnel- meaning that the Clefairy would have to go through one of them if it wanted to leave.

Ash reached for a Poke Ball, and to his surprise, his hands were shaking like crazy as he tried to get a grip over one of them. His Pokemon seemed to notice how nervous he was- even if Ash himself didn't- he was sweating even though the cave was a nice and cool place.

Ash's fingers trembled when he finally managed to get an empty Poke Ball out. "Pikachu! Do something!" he shouted out- only realizing after he had given the command that it was a stupid one.

Thankfully though, even though Ash was having trouble getting a grip on the situation his Pokemon were in better shape. Even though it was practically cheating, Pikachu and Frogadie basically attacked the Clefairy from both sides, meaning that it was unable to do anything and quickly fainted.

Ash threw the Poke Ball when he realized what had happened… only to see it miss the Clefairy by a mile. Ash took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down, and then tossed the Poke Ball.

It was a tense moment, even though it was almost guaranteed that the Poke Ball would catch it. The Poke Ball eventually stopped shaking and stopped. Ash had never caught a Pokemon before so it took him a second to realize that this meant that he had succeeded.

He let out a sight of relief. He didn't feel like partying or shouting right now- rather he was just glad the whole ordeal was over with. He picked up the Poke Ball and backtracked, and just in time too as his flashlight was about to run out.

He found Brock, who had been looking for him.

"Hey! Where were you? We've been looking all over for you," Brock said.

"Oh, that, I thought I saw a rare Pokemon and thought I'd follow it, but it was just a Paras," Ash said.

"Really Ash, you should've at least told us," Brock said as they headed back towards a section of the cave where Brock had agreed to meet the others, and sure enough Misty and Serena came back.

Once Ash was done explaining to them what had happened- or at least, the version he was going to tell them, Serena and Misty both started telling him off for running away like that.

"Hey- where's the other guy?" Ash asked.

"Oh, Emile?" Misty asked. "He wasn't here for long and he ran off saying that he was already behind schedule or something like that."

"Aww," Ash groaned. "I would've challenged him to a battle."

"It was probably good that you didn't," Misty said. "I mean, he had an Ivysaur and you just have a Water and Electric type. You probably would've been beat easy."

"Well, I'm sure we'll see him again," Brock said. "If he's on a Pokemon Journey too."

"Yeah," Ash said. "So I guess now that all of that is over, we should be going."

As Ash walked along with his friends towards the exit of the cave, it dawned on him that he had never said sorry to Misty for what he had done. He would've preferred to tell her something like that in private, but his mother had always told him that if you messed up in public, it was better to apologize in public too.

"Hey Misty," Ash said.

"What?" Misty asked.

"I- I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for earlier," Ash said. "I shouldn't have said that- you guys don't slow me down- you've done a lot to help me and I'd also just like to say thank you for all that you've done." It came out a whole lot more awkward than he had planned in his head.

"It's alright Ash," Misty said. Strangely enough, she didn't sound angry but rather, sad for some reason. Ash had the feeling it wasn't because of something he did- but due to something else. "I get it. It's the same thing like when you took my bike for your Pikachu. When you see someone you care about in danger, you go help them and don't bother what anyone else thinks. I guess that's just who you are. And I don't want to hold a grudge- not while we're going to Cerulean City at least."

Serena, obviously, wasn't getting a lot of what was happening. "What's bad with Cerulean City? It looked great when I visited it."

"Yeah, I know it's great," Misty said and sighed, a hint of nostalgia in her voice.

Ash didn't press the matter further and guessed that Misty was occupied with something else for the time being, so he instead began asking Serena what life was like back in Kalos.

They left the mountain and suddenly came out of Mt. Moon- the sun was setting at this point. To think that all of that had happened in less than a day.

"We should probably tell Officer Jenny about Team Rocket and what we saw inside," Serena said.

"But we don't know where she is," Brock said.

"We can tell someone in Cerulean City," Misty said. "The Police Headquarters of Kanto is there, and it'll be easier to get there than trying to go through Mt. Moon again."

"Yeah," Ash said. "That's probably a good idea. Let's go a bit further before we make camp."

Cerulean City wasn't visible yet as they climbed down the grassy slope, but Ash saw two people dressed up as black belt karate masters, and it was then that he remembered what James had said.

"Hello there, young Trainers," one of them said. "We are both karate masters- and after long years of training, we have mastered the techniques of Mega Punch and Mega Kick. Would you like to teach them to your Pokemon?"

"I don't have any Pokemon which can learn that," Serena said.

"Me neither," Brock and Misty said.

"I think I might have something," Ash said.

"Really?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure that Pikachu can learn it," Ash said. "Look- it's already getting dark, why don't you guys go and make camp? I'll catch up."

"I don't feel good about splitting up though," Serena said, and Ash realized that his mom had probably told her to keep an eye on him.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Ash reassured her and once the three of them were out of sight, Jessie and James revealed themselves.

"This is going to get harder with Serena around," Ash said and handed James the Poke Ball. "I caught a Clefairy like you asked."

"Great," James said. "But… I think it's time we told you."

"What?" Ash asked.

"We never really needed a Clefairy," Jessie said. "We could've caught one anyway- we were really in there hunting for fossils. We told you we needed one because we thought it was the best way you were going to get over your fear."

James took the Poke Ball anyway. "Still, I'm sure that this will make some pet owner pretty happy if we sell it. Unless you want it back?"

"Well, no," Ash. "I guess a .Clefairy isn't really my style. So I never had a real mission? If that's it, there's a Team Rocket base back in Mt. Moon with a lot of info on Team Rocket which you two should get rid of." Clefairy was the first Pokemon that Ash had caught, but he didn't really feel any big attachment to it from that. He guessed it was because he had already gotten Froakie as his second- and he thought it would be better for some rich fussy old lady to have the Clefairy rather than him.

"We can send a team in a while," James said. "And there's some more news we have for you- an actual mission." James took out a Poke Ball and handed it to Ash.

"Now, we've always had trouble working around Cerulean City," Jessie explained. "You may have noticed that the Police Headquarters are located there- so it's hard to get operatives in and out of Cerulean City. But that's not where we want you to be- just north of Cerulean City, near its small port, there's a house that belongs to a man by the name of Bill. You may have heard of him- he developed the Pokemon PC Storage system."

"That Poke Ball contains a Porygon," James said. "It's a special type of Pokemon that was very recently made in our labs."

"Whoa," Ash said. "You can create Pokemon?"

"Yes," James said. "We developed it for use in cybernetic warfare. It is a Pokemon that can go into a computer system and take all of its data, not to mention that it has no biological needs and would be perfect for space exploration if we ever needed it."

"So it's extra necessary that no one sees it," Jessie said. "we've only just made that Pokemon so please be careful not to use it in battle."

"So then what do I do with it?" Ash asked.

"Bill's house, or manor really, is a very exclusive place to the north of the city," James said. "We've been unable to get someone into there for that reason, but we think that you can manage it. Get that Porygon near one of the systems and it will be able to enter it by itself. Make sure that you're not seen- that is your mission."

"What'll it do once it's in the PC Storage System?" Ash asked. "Take the Pokemon stored in there?"

"Oh, gosh no," James said. "The Porygon still can't get through powerful firewalls like that- which is why we can't send it through the Internet to the Pokemon Storage system. There's another firewall inside of the Bill's system too, so the Porygon can't get through that to take the Pokemon in there."

"Why not just send it through the PC Storage system like you would normally then?" Ash asked.

"Because then they'd see it, and we want it to be a secret," Jessie said. "And then the Porygon wouldn't be able to move out of the firewall once it was inside, now, would it? Instead, if you send it like we tell you, the Porygon will instead monitor the huge database of information regarding the Pokemon sent to the storage system- the firewalls on that aren't that good. And, if there is any League notification to Bill, which is likely given how much the League depends on him, we'll know."

"So you're going to use it as a spy," Ash realized.

"Exactly," James said. "But the second problem will be that once Porygon is in the system and has acquired all the information that is on there, it won't be able to send it back to us, thanks to the second firewall surrounding the place."

"I don't get it," Ash said, confused. "How many firewalls are there?"

"Imagine it like this," Jessie said, slightly exasperated. "Bill's storage system is like a fortress. There is one firewall outside so no one can get in. And within the first wall there is some space where some records are kept, and there is yet another wall inside the first one which you'd need to get through to remove Pokemon from the system unlawfully. Porygon can't get through either wall, but if you send it in there inside Bill's house, it will be find itself inside the first wall."

"Okay," Ash said, getting part of it now.

"So you need to come back to Bill's house after one day," James said. "To get the Porygon out and give it back to us- we'll try finding a way to get to you in Cerulean City, but as we've said before it might be tough so we might meet you someplace else."

"Right," Ash said. "I think I've got most of it- but where's Meowth by the way?"

"Oh that," Jessie said, "he's going to collect the fossils we were talking about."

"Isn't that risky?" Ash asked. "Officer Jenny's probably combing through the place right now."

"Well, no one really suspects a Pokemon, after all," James said. "So he can always pretend to just be some wandering Pokemon."

"Got it," Ash said. "Anything else?"

"No," Jessie said.

"Got to get going then," Ash said and then sped onward towards where he guessed his friends would be.

Ash found them with camp set up and Brock already making something that smelled amazing.

"How was it?" Brock asked.

"What?" Ash asked.

"The moves," Misty said as if that should have been obvious. "Did your Pikachu get to know Mega Punch or Mega Kick?"

"No, it would've taken a few days for Pikachu to learn it so I left," Ash said. "And they weren't very good moves anyway."

* * *

The next morning all four of them got up bright and early to set off for Cerulean City.

"I want to go to the north of the city," Ash said. "I heard that there's some… uh, rare Pokemon there."

"I need to go to the south of the city," Brock said. "I heard there's a Pokemon Daycare there which is great if I want to learn to be a Breeder."

"We need to go to the Police Headquarters first," Misty said.

"Huh, what happened to that sign?" Serena asked.

There was a sign that originally said 'You Are Now Approaching Cerulean City' but had been vandalized so that it now read 'Gary wuz here. Ash iz a loozer.'

"I can't believe that jerk!" Ash shouted.

"I'm not sure who this Gary person is," Serena said. "But he really should've paid more attention in school."

Ash frowned. "Whaddya mean?"

"Don't you get it?" Misty asked. "The spellings are wrong."

"Really?" Ash asked. "Are they?"

The other three members of his party looked at Ash, shocked.

"Yes," Brock asked. "Didn't you learn anything in school?"

"Oh, there was no real school in Pallet Town," Ash said. "I just sat at home most of the time. I'm guessing Gary probably didn't go anywhere either- even though his grandfather is Professor Oak."

"But- you know how to read right?" Misty asked incredulously. "I mean, doesn't the League say that basic education is compulsory for everyone up till the age of twelve?"

"They do, but Pallet Town's excepted for some reason. And yeah, I know my name and stuff, but I've never been much of a reader anyway," Ash said. "I learned most of what I know from Sesame Street."

Misty laughed. "You still watch Sesame Street? Ash- you know that's a show for kids, right?"

"Really?" Ash asked. "Well, I mean it was educational so Mom made me watch it, but that was about it."

Misty shook her head. Once the laughter wore off, she seemed to turn far more somber. "Come on, we have to get to Cerulean City."

"Right," Ash said.

Along the way, Ash encountered several more wild Pokemon, and he felt a lot more confident this time on his ability to catch one. The thing was however, that he suddenly found himself being far more picky on which one he was going to raise. It was a bit surprising- but the thing was that as he already had Frogadier and Pikachu, Ash didn't really see the need for now to add a new member to the party. It would just seem to get in the way of training Frogadier and Pikachu, both of whom he was getting very attached to.

He'd find some more Pokemon- but would only catch one if he felt like it would make a good addition to his team.

 **A/N: Yeah, I couldn't help but put a jab at how no one seems to go to regular school in Pokemon and yet they know how to read. Same thing in Harry Potter too, we're never told of a school where wizards raised in wizarding families (like Ron) learn basic reading and writing and yet they do it as good as anyone else.**

 **If I want to put more of Emile, I'll watch more of his videos to get a feel of what he does.**

 **I kind of wrote Ash a bit differently than he was- I mean he returned his Clefairy and is a bit picky in what he catches, but even towards the end of the series it wasn't as if Ash was catching everything that he saw. Also, I don't know if Team Rocket did develop Porygon, but it was sold in their casino so I'm going with it.**

 **Alternate Lines:**

"Right now that Porygon can't break through a firewall," James said. "Our scientists have been trying to Up-Grade the Porygon to be able to do so and become stronger, but don't know how."

 **More Alternate Lines:**

Ash couldn't believe that his flashlight was running out. Oh well, at least he wasn't stuck in a world where it was necessary to teach your Pokemon a dumb move to light up caves which didn't even have a hundred percent accuracy.


	8. Badges Gained, Friends Lost

**A/N: Thanks Johnathen and Johnny Spectre. I'm not sure about the theory with Mimikyu, sadly I haven't watched/played Sun and Moon, so I don't know. As for whether or not Ash will go to other regions, well, I'll think about finishing Kanto first and going on off somewhere later.**

They reached Cerulean City- and Ash was still without a new Pokemon save for his Porygon, but that didn't really count since he couldn't use it.

It was late when they finally reached the Pokemon Center, so Ash wanted to call it a day, but Misty was pretty adamant that they go to the Police Headquarters first thing before they went to bed to tell them about Team Rocket.

"Aww come one Misty," Ash said, waving her aside. "I'm sure we can tell them all about it in the morning. Plus, the police all probably want to go home at this time- why bother them right now?"

"That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard!" Misty shouted back in response. "Come on now! We have a civic duty to inform Team Rocket and blah blah…"

Ash's mind zoned out the rest of Misty's words- not because they were boring (though they were incidentally, and he wouldn't have bothered listening to them anyway) but because he was thinking of what story to tell the Police Department. After all, they were bound to cross-question him multiple times- and while it was one thing telling something to a single officer, it was another thing to be questioned by a whole department. Ash wasn't sure if he could keep his story straight under that kind of pressure.

"-and we need to inform them as soon as possible so they can finally- are you even listening to what I'm saying, Ash?" Misty asked.

"Thing is Misty, I don't feel that alright, so maybe I'll stay back while you-AGH! OKAY, I'LL GO, JUST LET GO OF MY EAR!"

Misty dragged Ash towards the Police Headquarters with Brock and Selena following behind her. Several people gave them odd looks which Misty ignored.

It turned out that Ash had definitely been right about one thing: the Police Headquarters were about to be closed. People were packing up and moving out for the day, and Misty was told at the reception that if they didn't have an emergency they'd have to wait for tomorrow, but then when she looked at Misty closely she let her in for some reason- and to see the chief of all people!

They were told to wait for five minutes- and Ash was sweating like crazy.

"Ash, are you alright?" Selena asked, worried. She had considered that Ash was just faking it- but it looked like he had some real symptoms.

"Uh, yeah," Ash said. His throat felt as dry as sandpaper, and he kept wondering what it was that he should say.

"You don't look like it," Selena said and checked Ash's head for a fever.

"What are you, his mom?" Misty snapped. "He said he's alright, believe him."

"Well, _ex_ -cuse me," Serena said. "Just because apparently feeling sympathy for other people is something you can't do-"

"Hey there wait up-" Misty said.

Before they could continue, Officer Jenny- or at least the Police Chief Officer Jenny- walked out of the office.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" the Police Chief asked.

Thankfully Ash didn't even have to say much since Misty, Serena, and Brock did most of the talking. Ash only put a word in, and Officer Jenny seemed to strangely fixate on the fact that Serena was from Kalos and seemed to ash her more than anyone else, but otherwise Ash managed to get through without completing exposing himself for what he was.

Officer Jenny thanked them and said that she'd make sure that they'd get some sort of recognition for what they'd done- Misty said it was unnecessary- but they got their photos take anyway. Ash guessed it fit in with the whole regarding what Giovanni wanted him to do.

Ash really was tired though- and he guessed that the others were too since they all fell asleep nearly instantly after dinner.

The next morning they all got up and after some brief discussion Ash decided that he was going to tackle the Cerulean City Gym first. Sure, he had stuff to do for Team Rocket, but it had been so long since he'd last had a battle.

Brock, for some reason, said that he had to go somewhere else.

"But where though?" Ash asked for the third time.

"Uh- I just need to do something." Brock muttered.

"That was weird," Misty said.

"Yeah," Ash said. "It's almost as if he was secretly working for Team Rocket and he's going to meet with them."

"Not a funny joke, Ash," Misty said.

"So, do you know where the Cerulean City Gym is?" Ash asked once they were outside and done with breakfast.

"Sure I do," Serena and Misty said at the same time and then quickly glared at each other.

Ash was missing Brock as he realized that this meant that he was stuck with Serena and Misty- both of whom were coldly ignoring each other since the incident yesterday… only Ash hadn't noticed until Brock was gone and now they only had each other and Ash to talk to.

As such, the walk towards the Gym was a quiet one punctuated only by Misty and Serena telling Ash little nothings like, 'That cloud looks like a Psyduck, doesn't it?'

"Wow, there are a lot of people here," Ash suddenly said as he saw the crowd around the Cerulean City Gym. "They must have a lot of challengers."

"Not exactly," Misty said.

"What does that mean?" Ash asked.

"You'll see," Misty said.

The three of them pushed themselves to the front of the crowd where they saw a sort of water show- there were three rather pretty ladies in swimwear who were playing trick in the water with Water type Pokemon like Dewgong. The three of them were introduced as Daisy, Violet, and Lily.

The crowd cheered- though honestly Ash thought it was boring. It was the sort of thing that he might've liked back when he was eight, but he noticed a bunch of adults were there so he guessed they were there just to ogle at the performers, but Serena seemed to be pretty interested in the show, so maybe it was just him…

Once it was over, Ash asked someone, "Wait a minute, what about battles?"

"Battles? Huh? I dunno anything about that man," someone said.

Misty sighed. "Come on Ash, you'll have to meet with them if you want your Badge… but you probably won't end up getting a battle."

Ash followed Misty, all the while wondering what she had meant by that.

The three girls were chatting with each other when Misty stopped short of them and stayed behind a wall so she couldn't be seen. She motioned towards Ash to continue.

This all seemed very weird to Ash, but he decided to go ahead anyway with Serena trailing behind him and said,

"I'm here for a Gym Battle!" Ash declared.

Violet turned to him and said, "Well, we don't actually battle here at the Pokemon Gym- if you want the Cascade Badge, well, we usually give it in exchange of a few... _favors_." She winked slyly at the last word.

"Just what kind of favors are you talking about?" Serena asked rather angrily.

"Oh, to fetch groceries from the market, to clean the pool, that sort of thing," Lily said.

"Oh," Serena said and seemed quite less angry.

"But wait-" Ash said. "How can you just give the badge away without even putting up a fight?"

"Oh, League rules say that we can," Daisy explained. "It isn't necessary for a challenger to win in order to receive a badge. Any gym leader can offer a badge in recognition of a trainer's talents. There was a trainer by the name of Gary a few days ago- he gave a small donation to the Cerulean City Gym's efforts to support wild Water Pokemon, and we gave him a badge for that."

"So you still haven't changed," Misty said as she appeared from behind the wall. "And you're going to keep on like this? You guys have gotten worse since the last time I was with you- you're accepting bribes now?"

"Oh, Misty," Lily said, ignoring Misty's question entirely. "You finally decided to come back!"

"And you're still handing out the Cascade Badge like bread crumbs!" Misty shouted. "When Dad left us this gym, he wanted all of us to run it properly- not turn it into an aquarium!"

"What's going on?" Serena asked, thoroughly confused, along with Ash.

"What's going on is that these three, the Sensational Sisters, are my big sisters," Misty said. "When our Dad passed away, he told us to take care of the gym for him. And that meant actually battling challengers and not pawning off the gym's scrub work in exchange for the badge!"

The sisters yawned. "If you think you can do better, well, _you_ can challenge him if you want. You're a gym leader too."

"I'll do it," Misty said. "Ash, if you want your gym badge, you're going to have to beat me to get it!"

"This should be interesting," Daisy said with a smirk.

"I still don't get what's happening here," Ash admitted. "Are- are you telling me that you somehow inherited your gym leader position? And that it's possible for four people to be a gym leader at once? And that the League lets you sell badges?"

"Stop with the questions, Ash," Misty said. She flicked a button and two platforms appeared in the swimming pool and the electronic monitor began working as it should have. "You and I are going to battle- do you get that?"

"Y-yeah," Ash said and then motioned to Pikachu. Well, if this was what he was going to have to get through- well, he wasn't about to hesitate.

Misty sent out a Starmie.

"I haven't seen that before," Ash said.

"I used it back in Mt. Moon! Is your head always in the clouds?" Misty asked.

Ash opened up his Pokedex which said, _Starmie, its unusual body shape, reminiscent of abstract art, led local people to believe that this Pokemon is an invader from space._

"That's odd," Ash said. He privately wondered if almost all the Pokemon he encountered were related to space somehow. "Well, Pikachu, you're up!"

Pikachu however, gave a small squeak and shook its head.

"What's the matter?" Ash asked. "Pikachu! Come on! Don't let me down on this!"

Pikachu motioned towards Misty and made an odd motion. It was then that it hit Ash.

"You don't want to fight with Misty?" Ash asked.

"Pika," Pikachu said in affirmation.

"Hey Ash, you can borrow my Fennekin for the fight if you want," Serena said.

"No thanks, I'll get Pikachu to fight," Ash said. Pikachu though stubbornly refused to move from his place. Ash ground his teeth in frustration- a Pokemon wasn't listening to him during an important battle! He hoped this would be the last time something like this would happen.

"It's alright Pikachu," Misty said- with the same sad expression and voice that Ash had heard earlier when they had left Mt. Moon. "I want to have a battle- a real battle. I want you and Ash to give it your all."

"Yeah," Ash said. "We won't hurt them badly or nothing- it's just a fun match."

"Pika pi," Pikachu said and reluctantly got on one platform.

"Let's have a two versus two," Misty said. "Because you don't have another Pokemon anyway."

"Yeah that's where you're wr- right," Ash said, correcting himself at the last moment so that he didn't reveal the Porygon in his pocket.

It was clear that Pikachu was still holding back- but even with that the Type advantage was so great that Pikachu took out Misty's Starmie without taking any significant damage.

Misty growled. "Go! Goldeen!"

Goldeen didn't last much longer- and with that Ash had won. It was a bit of an anticlimactic victory, something that Misty's elder sisters didn't waste an opportunity to rub into Misty's face.

"Wow, thanks for the lesson in battling sis, we totally needed it," Violet said sarcastically. "We're going to prepare for our next show- do us a favor and clean up the pool by the time we get back. Ciao."

"I'm not your servant!" Misty shouted at them as they walked out of the gym. Misty sighed and then walked over to a small bench, underneath which there was a stash of badges. "Here, you've earned this."

"That was a great fight," Ash said, unsure of what else to say.

"You don't need to sugarcoat it," Misty said. "I know I have a lot to work on." She let out a big sigh. "I'm not disappointed- I just sort of wanted for our last battle to be more memorable."

"Don't you mean our first battle?" Ash asked, confused.

Misty shook her head. "Ash, there's something that I haven't told you. I- I wasn't just hanging around randomly before I first met you. I'm the youngest sister- but I was the only one that seems to care about running the gym. I'm not kidding when I say that those three would prefer being off working as models rather than doing this- I don't even know why they bother sticking around and I was always telling them to get their act together. But they still treated me like a runt- so I decided to go outside for a bit to get stronger so I could prove myself. I was just planning on finishing and coming back when a certain trainer had to go and steal my bicycle…"

"Pika pi pii!" Pikachu said.

Ash realized what was happening. "Wait a minute- you're not coming with us anymore?'

Misty shook her head. There was an odd sort of melancholy in her eyes which shimmered just like the ocean… how odd it was that Ash had never noticed that before. "I think I can do much better here in this gym rather than just roaming 'round the countryside."

"But- but what about that bike?" Ash said.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten about it," Misty said. "But I know I don't need to follow you around to make sure that you'll pay me back for it anymore. I know what kind of person you are, and you wouldn't just let it go."

"You're really leaving?" Serena asked. Though they had fought and hadn't been on speaking terms just a few minutes ago, Ash could tell that Serena was still surprised- and not happy at all that Misty wasn't coming with them.

"Well, _I'm_ not technically leaving, am I?" Misty said. "I mean, you guys are, I'm staying here at the gym. Good luck, Ash, I'm sure you'll get ahead in life."

Pikachu looked close to tears and glanced up at his trainer, begging him to do something- to say something to make Misty stay. But all Ash said was, "Good luck to you too, Misty."

They shook hands, and Serena and Misty hugged and then Misty ran off to follow her sisters.

Ash knew that Pikachu was glaring daggers at him. Once he was sure that Misty was gone, he turned to his companion. "I know, Pikachu, I didn't want her to go either. But what was I gonna say… if it's Misty's dream to lead the gym… it would be stupid and selfish if I asked her to stay with us…"

Pikachu's expression softened and followed his trainer outside.

Ash and Serena then roamed around the city, mostly aimlessly for a couple of minutes.

It amazed Ash at how quickly Misty had suddenly vanished… and also at how big a hole such a short friendship had created. He had only known her for little over a week, and yet for some reason he somehow always saw her in plans for the future by his side as his Pokemon journey would progress even though she had only tagged along because of what he had done to her bicycle. No wonder Misty had let him off easily for what he had done back in Mt. Moon- she didn't want their last memories to be bitter ones.

It would be hard, but Ash knew that he would get over Misty leaving. Surprisingly- he no felt no elation at having won the Cascade Badge- due to what it had cost him.

"Hey Ash, that was a brave thing you did back there," Serena said. "Letting Misty go off like that… I could tell you two were friends, even though you couldn't stop fighting with each other. But don't you think that just maybe, she also might've wanted to stay with us? At least for a while? If you would've just asked, maybe she'd have changed her mind."

"Maybe," Ash said. "Or maybe it wouldn't have made a difference. I can't read people's minds…"

Suddenly, Serena perked up. "Hey Ash, with Misty gone and Brock away, that means it's just us for now. Wanna-"

"Oh yeah, what's Brock doing right now?" Ash asked, interrupting Serena.

 **Meanwhile, With Brock,**

"Oh, I hope no one saw me," Brock said to himself as he stealthily worked his way to a part of Cerulean City… a part where something he'd wanted to see for a long time was going on.

The thing was that Jigglypuff the Explorer- that's right, based on the hit show for five-year-olds was doing a live concert in Cerulean City. Despite being nearly sixteen, Brock was a huge fan, and had normally been able to watch it as an excuse whenever his siblings did. But now, he had no such excuses, so he had to be sure to be quiet.

The show was just starting, and Brock tried making himself scare. As expected, there were only small kids there and their parents, but Brock was rather inconspicuous thankfully.

Brock watched with bated breath as Jigglytuff the Explorer, with her talking backpack named Backpack and a Mankey named Boots walked onto the stage and cheered.

* * *

Ash soon forgot about Misty- it had been a very long time since he had talked with Serena and they spent the evening touring the various shops. It was weird- he thought that he knew Serena and recognized her, and at the same time she seemed to be quite a different person than what he remembered as if he was talking to a total stranger.

Brock met up with them in the evening near the Pokemon Center. He looked pretty elated- but wouldn't say where he'd been or why he looked so thoroughly euphoric.

He took the news that Misty had left or rather, stayed behind comparatively well, shrugging and saying that it was really her choice in the end.

The next morning, now that Ash had the Cascade Badge, he decided that it was time for him to head towards Bill's house to get his Team Rocket mission done.

* * *

"Why do you wanna go north of the city again?" Brock asked wearily- Ash had woken all of them up early and the sun had come up just a few minutes ago.

"I heard there are good Pokemon there, and I wanted to go see Bill," Ash said.

"Bill?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I've always wanted to meet him- he uh, made the PC Storage System and all that," Ash said.

"Doesn't sound like something you'd be interested in," Serena said. Really, Ash Ketchum of all people for some reason wanted to meet Bill?

"Yeah, but I am," Ash said.

"But Ash, they don't let people into his manor," Serena said. "I saw it on my way, it's locked like a military bunker."

"Really?" Ash said. He remembered that Jessie and James had said that it would be hard to get in… he was going to have to think of something to do. "Well, I'll think of something- until then I'll look for another member for my team!"

Ash didn't find anyone- though Serena caught an Oddish. The only Pokemon that Ash felt was worth catching was an Abra- but it teleported away the moment that Ash approached it.

Ash had given up on finding anything good when he saw something that he didn't believe at first.

Lying on a rock, in the middle of a huge plain, was a Pokemon that Ash had seen several times before. Was it a wild one?

Ash got closer to realize that he wasn't wrong- it was a small orange reptile with a flaming tail- a Charmander!

"Aww yeah!" Ash shouted.

"What happened?" Brock asked.

"I've always wanted a Charmander," Ash said. "I was gonna choose it as my starter but they ran out…"

"Aren't they hard to train?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, but think about getting a Charizard!" Ash said- completely fanboying over the idea.

Serena chuckled- he had heard the stereotype that all boys wanted a Charizard- but didn't know that it also applied to Ash.

"I mean, Dragon types are cool too," Ash said. "But the thing is that they're even harder to train, and with Fairy types around they aren't really as strong as they used to be. But a Charizard is just great- I mean think about its wings and jaws- and it can even Mega Evolve, and it's just so cool!" Ash stopped his monologue and decided to get onto business, and chucked a Poke Ball at the lizard.

Charmander flicked the Pokeball away. Ash tried four times again and failed at the endeavor.

"It looks pretty weak," Ash said, noticing that the Charmander wasn't moving… and it seemed a whole lot smaller than he thought a normal one would. He wasn't sure about that since he had never seen one except on television, but it did look very small.

Pikachu hopped over to the Charmander, and they exchanged a few words. Pikachu then shook his head at Ash.

Pikachu made a few hand motions. "Oh, it's waiting for someone?" Ash realized.

"Well, let's be on then," Ash said as they turned around from the Charmander- and he sent a glance backwards, wondering what was up with the Pokemon.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading.**

 **And first of all, apparently Starmie is an alien because of its weird shape… by that logic should a starfish and star-shaped clover also be called invaders from space. Secondly, yes, Jigglypuff the Explorer is based off of Dora the Explorer.**

 **I decided to have Ash get Charmander… much like his Greninja, his journey seems incomplete without his Charizard. He won't get a Bulbasaur or Squirtle though, given how he just ended up releasing/giving them away and never really used and/or evolved them that much. I hope I didn't seem to underpower Misty too much, she went down pretty easy in this chapter, but I thought that was a given with Ash's type advantage- plus in the anime Brock and Misty always seem to be on par with Ash- even though Ash does most of the fighting.  
**

 **Alternate Lines:**

"I'm sure you'll give me the money back for my bike anyway," Misty said. "I know you can be trusted."

"Actually, on the contrary," Ash said, "I'm not going to give it back ever or pay for it in any way. As a matter of fact, I'm going to go ahead and ruin several other bikes whenever I go to another region."


	9. Porygon, Charmander, and A Friend I

**A/N: Thanks to Johnathen for that review. As for your query, it might take some time but I could get it done, though it'll have to wait until it is helpful for the plot.**

When Serena had told Ash that Bill's house was locked up like a military bunker, he had assumed it was an exaggeration.

Instead it looked like one of those places- you know, those places that people in heist films would describe as being impossible to break into, but would still get into anyway because it was a movie.

Ash, however, knew that he wasn't in a movie and he had no chance of trying to get inside the place and placing the Porygon near the servers by underhanded means. No wonder that Team Rocket hadn't tried to sneak in before.

The place was literally carved into the side of a cliff, and there was only a single, narrow trail that led up to the place. Trying to get in through the air would be difficult as the place was situated in a pocket in the rock that was not carved very high- meaning any helicopter would have trouble maneuvering properly. There was a ten foot tall wall surrounding the place, and given that it belonged to Bill, it was probably swarming with all sorts of traps that he had designed himself and had patents pending.

Ash and his friends had made the long and steep trek towards the gate, but Serena and Brock had repeatedly reminded him that it was highly unlikely that Bill would let them in.

Ash buzzed the intercom several times, and nothing happened.

"I think we should go back, Ash," Brock said. "This guy clearly doesn't like visitors."

Just then, there was the sound of glass breaking which came from inside the compound and there was a shout, "Help! Help me! Somebody!"

There was something weird about that voice, Ash thought. It sounded morphed, as if whoever was saying it was being choked.

"Well, we've gotta go see what that's about," Ash said and then climbed over the gate.

"Ash!" Brock warned.

As soon as Ash and his Pikachu landed on the ground, sirens began whirring and red lights began flashing. The door to the house inside shut itself and shutters dropped down from each of the windows. Unknown to Ash, a call had been made to a nearby outpost of the Cerulean City Police Department and officers would be there within ten minutes.

Ash took a look around- the place was moderately nice-looking but clearly Bill had security as the main thing in mind when he built it. Ash saw shards of broken glass and his Pikachu pointed him towards a small, pink blob that was lying down on the ground.

"That's a Pokemon," Ash said as he approached it.

"I'm not Pokemon," the same weird voice he had heard earlier said. The Pokemon then got up.

"What in-" Ash shouted out, his voice nearly drowning out the sirens.

The Pokemon was clearly supposed to be a Clefairy, except for the fact that it wasn't one! It had brown hair, and weird human-like features.

"Don't be alarmed, please," it said. "My name is Bill. Thank you for coming…"

"A talking Pokemon!" Ash exclaimed. And here he thought that Meowth was the only one.

"No, no, no," Bill said. "I was doing some research on transmitting humans like we do Pokemon as a form of teleportation- but the problem is that my Clefairy suddenly came in and messed with the system, so that now it fused us together somehow. I need a human to go fix the machine and return me back to normal."

"Really?" Ash asked and blinked twice. It was the sort of stupid stuff you might hear about in a video game, but he couldn't think of an alternative explanation for it.

"Yeah, you need to disable this alarm and get the machine back working," Bill said.

Bill told Ash the codes he needed to punch in to open the gate, disable the alarms, and tell the Cerulean City Police Department that they were fine.

As such, Brock and Serena walked in… and Serena overreacted to seeing Bill.

Namely, she shrieked loudly when she saw what she took for a mutant Clefairy and kicked it right in the face. It took Ash several minutes to calm her down and explain to her what had happened.

"Sorry," Serena said, profusely apologizing to Bill.

"No problem," Bill said, using the back of his hand (paw?) to wipe away the blood streaming out of his nose. "Let's just get back to my house and get this over with."

As Ash expected, the inside of the house was crawling with cameras, small robots, big robots, and there was a Pokemon that he didn't recognize that hovered about. Ash could only guess that all of this would have cost a pretty penny, but from what he knew about Bill, he guessed that he was rich enough to afford it. Plus, the Pokemon probably funded him given the importance of the Pokemon Storage System.

"This is the machine, you guys," Bill said.

Ash took a glance at it, it was essentially two different cylinders- big enough for a person to get into- which were connected with a large pipe that joined the tops of the two.

"Now just press that switch," Bill said and walked into one of the cylinders. Ash pressed a switch- there were some flashing lights and something seemed to move in the huge pipe on top.

Finally there was a ping! and the door opened to reveal Bill on one side and a normal regular Clefairy on the other.

This created a nice, relaxing atmosphere until Ash destroyed it in about two seconds by asking Bill,"Why aren't you naked?"

"Ash!" Serena shouted, blushing.

"Beg pardon?" Bill asked, confused.

"No, I mean, where did your clothes come from?" Ash asked. "You weren't wearing any as a Pokemon and there weren't any in the machine so…"

"Oh, see, the extra mass of my Clefairy and I kind of went to some sort of limbo in the machine, kind of how a Pokemon's mass fits into a Pokeball so all the extra went there… though now that you mention it I guess it is a bit of a stroke of luck that I managed to get them all back properly," Bill said. "Would've been kind of embarrassing if it didn't."

"Well, nice to meet you," Ash said, extending his hand and oblivious to the awkward atmosphere that he had created.. "I'm a big fan of your work."

"Oh, thanks," Bill said. "And thanks big time, by the way, for helping me out like that."

"What happened?" Brock asked. "Just how did you, well… you know?"

"Oh, long story, I was trying to teleport myself but my Clefairy went ahead and got into the other chamber and I'm not sure how or why it happened after that," Bill said.

It was clear that Bill wasn't very good at conversation or at entertaining guests- Ash figured that he probably hadn't had a visitor in the last couple of months or so.

As Bill was away preparing something for them to eat- against their protests, of course- Ash found a few moments alone to release the Porygon. He released it, and after he made sure that no had seen, he looked back and saw that it was gone.

Now the only problem was how he'd go back to the house a day later, but he hatched a plan soon enough.

He took out his Pokedex, and while all of them were chatting, Ash left in on the sofa. He'd just come back again later on, he figured, and tell Bill that he must've forgotten his Pokedex there.

Bill made some small talk but it was mostly forced, not to mention that when asked what he was doing, he replied with, "Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

It was meant as a joke, but not a very good one.

Bill offered them to stay for a while longer and even the night, but Ash said that they needed to get going.

"Why though?" Serena asked. It seemed odd to her, really odd, that for one, Ash wanted to come here in the first place, and secondly that he just wanted to leave so suddenly now when he had a chance to meet Bill in person.

"I bet we can find more Pokemon further in on the route- plus Bill look's busy. I mean, we wouldn't want to bother him too much," Ash said.

"Oh, it's nothing," Bill said. "Then again, I do have a report to fill on getting our system in sync with the Sevii Islands, and then Lanette called since she wanted some help with a glitch happening in the Hoenn servers and-"

"Yeah, don't worry, we have to get going anyway," Brock said. "Sooner we leave- um, not that this place isn't amazing- but the faster we can go visit the Day Care to the south of the city."

They left, and Ash considered going back to Cerulean City- his job here was done, after all, but then he remembered that he'd have to go back to Bill's house which would be take far too long if they went towards the south of Cerulean City.

So, they kept on moving east from Bill's house to the coast where there was a Pokemon Center where they'd planned stay the night and explore the surrounding area before they'd go back towards Cerulean City the next day.

Ash met several trainers on the way- who were mostly defeated easily, stroking his ego a bit too much for Brock's liking.

Evening approached.

"Hey, Serena, you were here before when you came by the ferry, right," Ash said. "Know all about it then?"

"Nah, I kind of rushed over and didn't bother sightseeing," Serena said.

There wasn't really much for sightseeing though, just the ocean which was cool for about ten seconds before Ash got bored of it.

The Pokemon Center was mostly empty except for a group of teenagers who were a few years older than Ash sitting in one corner chatting away and a couple of other patrons.

Ash yawned. He was about to go and hit the hay when his Pikachu seemed to absolutely go berserk near the trainers and started yapping.

"Hey, is this your Pikachu?" a guy asked. He had light blue hair and was wearing goggles.

"Yeah," Ash said. "Sorry- I don't know what's gotten into him. Pikachu- back!"

Pikachu didn't stop though and continued on yapping and them morphed his face to look sort of like… a Charmander?

"Huh, what're you trying to say?" Ash asked. Pikachu then pointed to the guy.

Ash then got an idea. "Hey- do you happen to know a Charmander by any chance? One that was left on a rock not far from here?"

"Oh, is that thing still there?" the guy asked and chuckled. Ash got a better look at the guy- he was wearing an expensive leather jacket and he had a small case that was filled with tiny Poke Balls in front of him. "I was sure that it would've left by now."

"So that was your Charmander," Ash said. "Why'd you leave it?"

"It was the runt of the litter, that's why," the guy answered. He then took out a Poke Ball and from it released a Charmander… only that before it came out it sparkled in the light and it was coal-black for some reason.

Now that Ash had a good look at what a supposedly normal Charmander was supposed to look like, he realized that there was no doubt about it- the one he had seen earlier was small for a normal one.

"Is that a Shiny Pokemon?" Brock asked.

"What's a Shiny?" Ash asked.

The guy said, "Pfft, amateurs. A Shiny Pokemon is a rare Pokemon that has a different color… namely this Charmander that's black. You won't believe how many eggs I had to hatch before I managed to hatch this rare gem. A Charizard looks amazing no doubt, but just imagine a Charizard that is as dark as the night itself dousing everything around it with sapphire flames." The guy gushed over his Charmander like a lady would over her new engagement ring, and he talked about it so loudly that Nurse Joy and a guy playing ping-pong with a Kadabra nearby stopped to listen. "I had a lot of normal ones though, so what I did next then was sell them off but I couldn't find a buyer for that one."

"You sold them?" Serena asked, shocked.

"Yeah, the League paid a nice sum for all of them, and the rest I gave out to private collectors- anyone willing to pay a price," the guy said with a shrug. "Only thing is no one wanted the last one, and it just wouldn't stop following me for some reason. I got no time to waste on a weak Pokemon, so I finally just told it to wait for me on that rock and waltzed all the way here-"

Ash suddenly grabbed the guy by his collar and tried his best to look intimidating even though the guy towered above him by at least a foot and a half.

"Whoa! Let go of the jacket man- you don't know how expensive it is!" the guy said as his group of pals got up to support him.

"Well then, let's settle it with a battle," Ash said, taking out a Poke Ball.

"Huh, you really think you can stand up to Damian?" one of the guys said. "Damian here's a Pokemon League veteran- he managed to get all eight badges times up till now. What have you done, twerp?"

"Oh yeah, this may be my first time on a journey, but I've already won more battles than I can count!" Ash retorted. His Pikachu joined him in staring Damian down and looked ready to unleash a Thunderbolt on Damian.

Damian snorted. "Something tells me that's not a really high number."

"Yeah well-" Ash said before he was interrupted as Nurse Joy intervened between them.

"Stop this right this instant," Nurse Joy said. "You cannot possible battle Pokemon for personal reasons- it is degrading and demeaning towards the Pokemon to be used in such a way."

"Yes, of course, you're right," Brock said suddenly and grabbed Ash and started dragging him away. "Don't worry Nurse Joy, I'll take care of this miscreant for you right away."

"Hey!" I'm not the bad guy here!" Ash said as he tried to break free from Brock's surprisingly hard grip.

Five minutes later, Ash was stewing in a corner of the Pokemon Center. There had been no fight- but Ash was still practically fuming.

"It'll be alright, Ash," Serena said.

"I don't get it though," Ash said. "How does he just leave a Pokemon like that? And Just why is a black Charmander so special?" For once he was missing Misty- she would've agreed with him, not that Serena and Brock didn't- but she'd probably have also agreed to fight Damian and the others too instead of backing off.

"I've heard that they're rare," Brock said. "I once heard a story about someone who caught a shiny Bidoof of all Pokemon and was able to trade it for a Dragonite. I guess since they're rare people like them even if it doesn't make much of a difference in battle or otherwise."

Ash took a glance at a nearby phone and got up.

"Where're you going?" Serena asked.

"Nothing- just thought I'd call my mom," Ash said. If there was someone who Ash needed to talk to right now, it was his mother.

The call connected within a minute and Delia Ketchum walked in and immediately looked furious upon seeing Ash.

"Ash Ketchum!" she said. "How long has it been since you last called?" She then picked up a nearby newspaper. "It says here that you were in Mt. Moon fighting Team Rocket! Why do I have to get this stuff from the Cerulean City Daily instead of from my own son's mouth!"

Ash immediately began perspiring. "Sorry Mom it's just that I was so caught up in the heat of the moment-"

"Heat of the moment?" she asked. "I let you out on this journey, but that doesn't mean that you can get away with not telling me anything important. I didn't change your diapers for three whole years for you to end up like this. Look at Gary! He gives his grandfather daily updates. Or are you too-"

Ash turned the volume way down- he did not want anyone else in the Pokemon Center to hear him getting roasted and hoped none of them had heard the diaper comment.

Ash apologized profusely until his mother calmed down and promised to call more often. He didn't even get to tell her about Damian in all the mess.

He did however feel a bit of calm, though he couldn't help but throw around ugly glances at Damian and his group every now and then.

Pretty soon it was time to hit the hay. Ash intended to go further east towards the seashore before turning back to Cerulean City so they'd all have to get up early.

It was as Ash was adrift in dreamland that he felt something shake him. He opened his eyes wearily and saw that it was raining outside in a nice, slow drizzle and it was cold- all things that made snuggling up in his blanket one of the best feelings in the entire world. He felt like he could stay like that forever. He drifted off back to sleep before something shook him again.

Ash got up to see is Pikachu had just woken him up.

"What's up buddy?" Ash asked.

Pikachu hopped over to the window where it was raining and lied down on his belly. It took a second for Ash to realize what Pikachu was trying to tell him.

"Charmander?" Ash asked. He then remembered something he had heard about Charmander… namely that they needed the flame on their tails to live. Would that Charmander that was left all alone be able to sustain its flame?

"I know, but I'm sure it'll be alright," Ash said and went back to sleep but kept fidgeting as he imagined what that Pokemon was feeling like. Suddenly, he got up, and taking care not wake up Brock he left the room and entered the lobby of the Pokemon Center. He told his Pikachu to stay behind since it wouldn't like being in a Poke Ball and Ash wanted to be as fast as possible so he only took his Frogadier. He didn't need the extra weight weighing him down.

Nurse Joy was asleep at the counter and Ash tried to leave- but the door was locked. He hadn't wanted to wake up Nurse Joy but he realized that he'd have to give it a go.

"Nurse Joy?" Ash asked once softly and then repeated it.

"Hmm?" Nurse Joy said. She opened her eyes to reveal that they were bloodshot with bags under them- clearly being a nurse was a hectic job that allowed little time for rest or sleep.

"There's a Pokemon in trouble," Ash said and told her everything about the Charmander. He wasn't really sure that Nurse Joy understood though as she handed him the keys and went back to nodding off with a "Sure, why not?"

The rain was only a mild drizzle but got intense as Ash struggle to find the place where the Charmander had been. He was drenched in a matter of minutes as he saw Bill's house and knew that he was going the right way.

Ash almost missed Charmander at first as its flame was nearly extinguished and hardly visible in the black-as-ink night. It had somehow had the foresight to prop up a leaf as a makeshift umbrella over its flame, but it was not going to last long.

The Pokemon was hardly conscious as Ash reached for it, but apparently it could still tell that Ash wasn't Damian as it resisted Ash's attempts to move it from the rock, and when Ash began applying a bit too much force after trying soothing it with his voice failed it chomped down on Ash's arm.

Ash took a moment to take in the fact that specks of red were being washed off his arm by the rain. It hurt, and like any hurt creature Ash's first instinct was to retaliate in kind. But instead he scooped up the Charmander, who seemed to be too weak to resist any further and whispered gently to it, "It's alright if you don't trust me. It's okay, I'm not mad that you hurt me. Because I know why you did it. And you don't need to worry because no matter how much you ever hurt me later on… I'll always continue to care for you. Always. That's a promise."

Ash didn't put the Pokemon in a Poke Ball. No, he wasn't here to catch Charmander and that seemed underhanded. He took off his jacket and used it to protect Charmander from the rain and headed back on the long journey towards the Pokemon Center.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. Ash's story with Charmander was so perfect I didn't bother changing it too much.**

 **That said, now Ash will have a Greninja, Pikachu, and Charizard in his team. I'd like to ask you guys, do you want me to keep putting more 'cool' Pokemon into Ash's team? I mean that Ash usually gets cool Pokemon wherever he goes, probably to pander to the viewers, but should I go ahead and give him a team like Lucario, Tyranitar, Sceptile, etc. and turn it into an Ash-becomes-Red story somewhat, or at least I think it'd be better to have him pick up some 'uncool' Pokemon, at least a few, like maybe a Koffing or Beedril or Slugma.**

 **Alternate Lines:**

"I've won more battles than I can count," Ash said.

Brock took a moment to count how high that was. "If you're telling the truth, you really need to go back to school."


	10. Porygon, Charmander, and A Friend II

**A/N: Thanks for all those reviews guys. AveragePichu, Ash was actually serious when he asked Bill that question. He just didn't figure it would turn out to be so awkward. Silver trying to dye his hair silver was a pun.**

With Ash's luck, it stopped raining just ten minutes before he got to the Pokemon Center instead of a few hours ago. The sky was beginning to lighten- the sun would be up now soon. The only thing that worried Ash was whether or not he'd be in time to rescue Charmander.

Outside the Pokemon Center, he saw that Brock and Serena were already waiting for him.

"Ash!" Serena called out. "Why'd you go and run off all alone like that?"

"I'll explain later," Ash said, running to go and hand over Charmander to Nurse Joy.

"Wait up!" Brock said.

Ash saw Nurse Joy at the counter and proceeded to hand over Charmander while Serena continued to tell him how irresponsible he'd been.

"You know, you could've just woken us up and we would've come with you," Serena said. "It's dangerous to go out in the middle of the night alone- you didn't even take Pikachu along and eventually it woke me up and then I woke Brock up."

"Why did he wake you up first?" Ash asked. "You were sleeping in a different room. Wouldn't it have been easier to wake up Brock?"

"He was sleeping like a rock so he came to me," Serena said. "And that's besides the point! You're soaked Ash, was it too much to take an umbrella? You could have pneumonia by now or-"

"I couldn't wait, I wasn't sure if I would get there in time," Ash said as he watched Nurse Joy examine the Charmander.

"She has a point Ash," Brock said. "It's always dangerous to go and wander around the wilderness on your own. And that's disregarding that you've gone and went into Team Rocket's bad books by now and that's enough to make you a target."

Ash took a deep breath. He hadn't noticed it up till now, but he _was_ feeling extremely cold. And while Ash assumed it was normal for Serena to fret over things- it was literally why his mother had asked her to tag along in the first place, Brock was usually more cool-headed. If he was worried, Ash thought it probably meant that he probably had been out of line, at least a bit.

"I'll have to rush this Charmander to the ICU," Nurse Joy said. "Is this your Pokemon? How could you be so irresp-"

"It isn't mine, Damian left it on a rock," Ash said before Nurse Joy could go on a tirade against the wrong person.

"Your friends are right though," Nurse Joy said before carting Charmander off for one of the Chanseys to handle. "It's always safer to be with someone else- especially with Team Rocket growing bolder day by day. Didn't you hear about that kid- Brian Sanders a few years ago?"

"Yeah, he got hurt real bad," Ash said. It was the kid who had gotten into an accident in the wilderness so long ago and caused the Pokemon League to raise the starting age on when a Trainer could begin a journey from ten to thirteen.

Ash guessed by now with everyone saying the same thing that he just might have been a bit too rash- but at least he had told someone where he was going. They'd have come to find him, though admittedly it could've taken quite some time for them to reach him. And normally he'd be comforted by the fact that Jessie and James would be looking after him, but they _had_ said that they'd be forced to keep their distance from Cerulean City.

With Charmander gone and wheeled off for the ICU Ash suddenly realized how tired, wet, cold, and hungry he was and after a quick change of clothes he fell asleep and woke up after what seemed like forever. A quick meal was all he needed before he found Serena and Brock battling outside and was about to join them when Nurse Joy told him that Charmander was feeling better now.

Charmander was awake, but lying down.

"Hi there, Charmander," Ash said. Charmander's flame was low from what Ash guessed was normal for a Charmander based on Damian's shiny one, but brighter than he had ever seen it before. Charmander suddenly got up and off the bed and seemed pretty happy as it waltzed towards Ash.

"Hey there," Ash said, opening his arms to welcome Charmander…

….who completely ignored Ash and went behind him. Ash turned to see Damian walking down the hallway- seeing the Charmander, and looking surprised.

Charmander excitedly walked up to Damian and had one of the happiest expressions Ash had ever seen on a Pokemon.

"Oh hey, you still alive there?" Damian asked.

"Char charr," Charmander said.

"Well, okay, let me break it to you like this since you're so keen on followin' me around- I don't got time for you," Damian said. He released his Shiny Charmander. "This guy's my favorite now. Now scram!"

Charmander seemed confused and tried following Damian as Damian walked off, only for his Shiny Charmander to suddenly turn and use a weak Scratch to ensure that Charmander wouldn't try coming back to Damian again.

It was then that Ash saw one of the most pitiful things he had ever seen- Charmander was crying. And not just a few tears- he was tearing up like a fountain and wouldn't even get up- he was just lying in a puddle of his own tears as he continued to wail.

Ash wasn't sure what to do. Nurse Joy wasn't around for the moment and neither were one of her helper Chanseys, and Brock and Serena were probably busy with their battle right now. Pikachu stared at the Charmander, but seemed to be as lost as Ash as to what it should do.

Eventually Charmander's cries softened down to weak sobs- but they still shook its entire body. Charmander then managed to get up weakly before falling back down.

It was then that Ash finally decided to do something and sent out his Greninja. He was sure that his Pokemon would be great at trying to handle the Charmander.

Pikachu helped Charmander get up and Greninja helped stabilize him. Charmander seemed surprised at the odd show of kindness.

"Hey Charmander," Ash said, his voice low and reassuring. "It's bad what happened with you and Damian- and I know this is a bit hard to understand, but he never loved you. But you don't need him- I don't think he ever realized how special you are and just saw you for being weak. And I don't know if this is the wrong time to say this- but I have to say it eventually or at least I think so… so do you want to join us?"

Ash extended his hand and Charmander began sniffing it. No- he wasn't sniffing it, Charmander was looking at the bite marks on Ash's arm which had been cleaned by the rainwater. Ash was wondering if Charmander remembered that it was the one who had done that- but Charmander's guilty face put all those doubts away. Charmander definitely recognized its own bite marks.

"You don't need to worry about that, it's okay," Ash said and Charmander took a glance at Greninja and Pikachu- both of whom were smiling and then nodded before nodding off to sleep.

With that, Ash took Charmander back to where it could get some rest.

Brock and Serena then came in.

"So you're up now, huh?" Serena asked.

"Well, it's three o' clock so I guess he better be," Brock said.

Nurse Joy then came in with a worried look on her face. "Damian just left the Pokemon Center… this is a big problem for Charmander here…"

"I know, Charmander was really upset at that," Ash said.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "No, you don't understand. All Pokemon Centers are equipped to heal only Trainer's Pokemon as per League regulations. If Damian has released it and won't take it back, that means that it qualifies as a wild Pokemon now."

"How's that a problem?" Serena asked.

"Pokemon Centers don't take care of wild Pokemon," Brock said as he realized it.

"Huh? Why not?" Ash asked.

"Because they get a limited supply of funds from the Pokemon League- that's why they're free for all League registered trainers," Brock said. "But they're told they can't waste resources on wild Pokemon except under certain situations. I don't know what they are though…"

"None of them apply to Charmander though," Nurse Joy said. "He'll need at least another day to recover but I'll have to discharge him now-"

"Oh, no, I'm his Trainer now," Ash said firmly.

"Oh, good then," Nurse Joy said. "But I've already entered Charmander in as one of Damian's Pokemon. I'll need to get some paperwork done then- can you please hand over your Pokedex?"

"Oh yeah sure-" Ash said as he reached for his Pokedex but then froze as if he had just seen a ghost.

"What happened?" Serena asked as she watched Ash's shocked expression.

"My Pokedex… um Nurse Joy, I'm sorry but I think I lost it somewhere," Ash said.

"Ash, how could you?" Brock asked. "That's literally one of the most important things that a Trainer should always have with him."

"Sorry," Ash repeated meekly. "You won't discharge Charmander, now, will you?"

"I suppose I can take your word for it," Nurse Joy said. "But do you have any other evidence that you're a League certified Trainer?"

"I have my gym badges," Ash said and showed them to Nurse Joy.

"That'll do for now," Nurse Joy said.

Ash sighed out of relief and then got up and headed out to leave.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Serena asked.

"I need to get my Pokedex back," Ash said. "I think I forgot it at Bill's place."

"How're you so sure?" Brock asked.

"Uh, well, I went back on the same road we came here by and didn't see it, and I don't think that it'd have fallen off onto the road without us noticing so I think that's the only real place it could be," Ash said.

"Well, we're coming with you then this time," Serena said and Brock nodded.

Ash really didn't need the two of them breathing down his neck while he retrieved his Porygon, but then again, he couldn't think of a way to refuse without arousing suspicion after all that had happened last night so he let them come with him.

* * *

Ash didn't dare say it in front of Serena as he didn't want to look weak, but he was starting to feel really sore having walked all this distance so many times in such a short time frame. It didn't help that there was a steep walk up to Bill's house.

Serena and Brock were discussing their battle- Brock had won easily, but Ash would've been surprised if he hadn't with him being a Gym Leader and all, and with Fennekin's type disadvantage. It turns out that Oddish wasn't strong enough to hold its own, at least not yet.

Ash buzzed the intercom. He buzzed it again two minutes later, and it was only after ten minutes that Bill showed up.

"Uh, hey, it's me, Ash, from yesterday," Ash said. "Sorry to bother you, but I think I forgot my Pokedex here."

"Huh, oh yeah, Ash, from yesterday," Bill said. "Yeah, sure let me just open the door and let y'all in."

"So yeah, I think it may have fallen out of my pocket," Ash said as Bill came to greet them. Bill was dressed in the same clothes that he had been wearing yesterday, though Ash wasn't someone to judge someone else on that front.

"Well, do you have the 'Find My Pokedex' feature installed on it?" Bill asked.

"No," Ash said. "There's a feature like that?"

"Yeah," Bill said. "I studied the Pokedex extensively when I was learning how to build my machines. It's a neat little feature." He turned towards a computer. "Just put in your name and trainer ID and it'll start locating it."

Brock and Serena tried making some small talk, but honestly it wasn't very interesting much like yesterday since Bill seemed to be less interested than most people in answering things or talking about stuff that normal people spoke about. Maybe he was just shy, Ash guessed.

Ash found his Pokedex really quickly with the software working and the fact that it was where he had put it yesterday- now the only problem was trying to get his Porygon back without anyone noticing him. He finally made an excuse to go to the bathroom which meant that he'd have some privacy.

Only now he ran into another problem- just how was he going to call Porygon back to himself?

At a complete loss for a minute, Ash then entered the bathroom for a moment to plan things alone to see that Bill had apparently installed a computer monitor. He shook his head- this was kind of going too far in his opinion on the whole 'tech-savvy' thing, but he saw that it had a microphone with it which he switched on. It was normally for voice commands, but Ash decided to say, "Porygon… if you're done here I need you to come back out."

A figure appeared on the screen- an icon of a small Porygon that got bigger and bigger as it finally materialized out of the screen and Ash took it back into its Poke Ball. He'd give it back to Jessie and James once he'd get the chance.

With that over, they stayed for a while before going back to the Pokemon Center to await the next day.

* * *

The next morning, Ash and his friends picked up Charmander alongside them and took off. They decided to forget about exploring the east coast and decided to go back to Cerulean City, from where they'd continue on south of it to Vermillion City.

Brock was ecstatic along the way- he'd finally get to visit the Day Care south of Cerulean City.

"You guys don't know this, but I've always wanted to be a breeder, always," Brock said. "Charles Darwin once said that not a man in a thousand has the eyes to become a true breeder of Pokemon, and not one in a thousand of them has the patience to become an excellent one. I've always been amazed at just what you can do by breeding Pokemon selectively."

"Seems kind of boring," Ash said. "Who wants to just raise Pokemon instead of training them?"

"Boring? Boring?" Brock said and then went onto a tirade. "It's everything but boring! You can see artificial selection happening right before you eyes- you can see Pokemon Evolutionary Biology as you selectively choose which traits to breed and how you can progressively alter how they are generation after generation."

He went on and on about breeding eggs and how it worked.

Neither Ash nor Serena were really interested in breeding, but Brock's enthusiasm was contagious and they both decided that they'd at least check it out.

"Hey- Gary once told me that a Wailord and a Skitty could have a Pokemon egg together," Ash said. "I told him he was lying but he said it was true."

"Oh, yeah, that is possible, they're in the same egg group," Brock said.

"But, but, how would they… you know?" Serena asked, her face turning bright red.

Ash was blushing too- he had received 'the Talk' only a few weeks ago. "Yeah, how'd that work?"

"Well, Pokemon don't lay eggs like that," Brock explained. "No one knows how or where they come from- they just seem to appear. Some people even say that they shouldn't technically be called Pokemon eggs, but Pokemon cradles instead. And the female Pokemon never seem to get fatter before laying eggs no matter how small they are and remarkably all eggs are always the same size though some hatch faster. So I guess there aren't any real problems they'd encounter. But there are a few rules for breeding, namely that the egg's species always is the mother's, but the Pokemon inherits moves preferentially from the father. It can lead to a whole lot of combinations of Pokemon knowing moves they couldn't normally know."

"Well, it looks like we'll be there soon," Ash said as Cerulean City came into view. "But before we go south, I think there's someone we should talk too first…"

* * *

Back at the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy was relaxing and enjoying one of her few breaks. It was tough being a nurse- she had to work twice the amount a normal person would do, and it was usually for ungrateful people like Damian who frankly didn't deserve to be around Pokemon at all, let alone try to train them.

The salary she got was okay, but it wasn't much compared to how much a nurse for humans would make and it was even smaller when you considered the debt from nursing school…

She was interrupted in these thoughts by a helper Chansey coming up to her and handing over a report. She looked worried.

"What happened?" Nurse Joy asked as she read a Charmander's- yes that Charmander that Ash had had- blood report.

She read it again. And then rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming and then read it again.

She had heard of this happening before, but she had never seen a case like this herself, despite her long years practicing.

As such she had no idea what to do, but decided that it would be best to inform the trainer first. He did say that he would be going towards Cerulean City, and she could always ring up her cousin there.

* * *

"I'm not sure about this, but I think we should try," Ash said.

"We're with you Ash," Brock said and his Pikachu nodded. "Except I think Serena and I are gonna wait outside. You have our support though!"

Ash walked into the Cerulean City Gym and asked around for Misty. He found her trying to tackle a mountain of paperwork almost a foot tall.

"Hey," Ash said.

Misty snapped up from whatever document she was perusing and said, "What is it this tim- oh."

"Yeah, it's me," Ash said. Pikachu hopped on to the desk. "We were coming back to Cerulean City and I wanted to drop by."

"Well great," Misty said. Ash noticed that she looked tired- and guessing from the mound of paperwork he assumed that Misty was being handed the scrub work of running the gym.

"Listen, see, the thing is that when I went up north I saw a Charmander and it was pretty small and all and had been abandoned but the thing is that when I found out- okay it's a long story- but I thought right then and there that it would've been good to have you along," Ash said. "The thing reminded me of you."

Misty frowned. "Ash, you're not making a whole lot of sense. Are you saying that I'm like a Charmander?"

Pikachu face-palmed, he had known that Ash wasn't very good at these things but he hadn't expected something along these lines.

"No, what I mean to say is, Misty, do you wanna come back and travel with us?" Ash asked. "I know you were just tagging along because of your bike but I guess I didn't realize how great it was having you along. I know this gym probably means a lot to you- but come on, I mean, you can probably learn a lot more and get stronger outside. And if it means that much to you, I can always go ahead and break something else so you can follow me until I pay that off…"

Pikachu then did an 'anime fall' seeing as a face-palm wasn't good enough in this situation.

Misty sighed. "Ash, you really don't know what to say do you?" She then got up, and Ash thought she was leaving, but she grabbed the stack of paperwork and dumped it into a dustbin. "Good riddance," she said. "You know what Ash? You're right, and don't get me wrong, I'll come back to run this gym the right way one day. But maybe for now... I'll just tag along with you."

Ash smiled. "Glad to have you back!"

Despite this initial warmness, they would be back to shouting at each other within fifteen minutes.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I don't know about Krookodile being 'cool', when I said 'cool' I mainly meant overpowered Pokemon like Ash having a team of Sceptile, Lucario, Charizard, Pikachu, Greninja or something along those lines where he has the best Pokemon from each generation and basically becomes Red. Well, Ash already had three of them, but it's rarer to see Ash stuck with a Pokemon like a Beedrill or Bellsprout, for example, or a Golbat.**

 **I might add the Youtubers, but I'll be adding them when the story needs basically needs the video game equivalent of a trainer NPC rather than creating a new one that you won't hear about ever again like in the anime.**

 **Also, unlike in the anime, Damian will return again. I plan something big for the Pokemon League.**


	11. A Trough in the Journey

Ash felt like someone about to tell a little kid that Santa Claus wasn't real.

Only that little kid was Brock. And Santa Claus was the Day Care.

"What do you mean it's closed?" Brock shouted to the heavens.

"I don't know why," Ash said. "The sign just said-"

"But wait," Brock said. "There's sounds coming from inside. I bet they're still people in there!" Brock then ran into the place, ignoring the 'CLOSED' sign outside.

"Hey Brock, you just can't go and barge into a place that's closed, you're supposed to be the responsible one here!" Ash said.

"This is coming from the guy who broke into Bill's place?" Serena asked.

"Wait- you broke into Bill's place?" Misty asked.

"It's a long story and I didn't break in technically since someone needed help," Ash said.

Ash followed Brock anyway though, disregarding the sign just like Brock had to enter the Day Care.

It was a large room kind of decorated like a preschool classroom. There were colorful pictures of Pokemon on the wall, a few chairs, and a PC in the corner. The only person there was an elderly-looking gentleman reading a book.

"Excuse me?" the man asked, looking up from his book.

"Where're Mr. and Mrs. Warttenheimer?" Brock asked.

"Who?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid the two of them have left this place for now," the gentleman said. He frowned. "I was sure that I put a sign that this place was closed outside."

"It must've fallen off or something," Brock said quickly. "But what do you mean they're gone?"

"Well, Mrs. Warttenheimer suddenly came down with a respiratory illness, sadly, but I do not know the details. They could no longer stay so close to Cerulean City and have moved their business to the Sevii Islands," the man said.

"Who're Mr. and Mrs. War- Warty-Warzen-" Ash said.

"Warttenheimer," Brock said. "They're the best- the pioneers of Pokemon breeding. They worked for over fifty years- it was when I saw one of their programs on television that I decided that I wanted to be just like them."

"I see," the man said. He got up and shook Brock's hand. "It's always excellent to meet with another fan. You see, I was with the two of them- or at least I remember back when they had just started this Day Care when I was but a boy."

"Wait, so you know what they did right?" Brock asked. "I came here looking for advice- so I could see something firsthand." Ash turned his head- Misty and Serena finally seemed to have gotten the courage, or the stupidity, to break in along with them.

The man paid little attention to the others though. "I'm terribly sorry, I just used to visit the Day Care when I was little. When they left, it reminded me of my days as a youth and so I bought it. I- I have very little that I could teach you."

"Oh," Brock said.

"I've tried running this place, but as of now, I can only care for your Pokemon. I have yet to master the art of breeding, so per se," the man said. "But I do have some extra materials here- wait and I might be able to help you with something."

The man walked out towards the back where there was grass and a small pond where there were two Marill that were playing and a Pidgey as well. There was a small warehouse that he went into.

"What happened?" Misty asked.

Brock told them what was up. "Oh, sorry Brock," Serena said.

"It's okay," Brock said. "I never knew that they'd left this place."

"We could hightail to the Sevii Islands if we get time," Ash said.

"Unlikely," Brock said. "They're aren't exactly any gyms there for us to stop by."

"Eh, we can always make time," Misty said.

The man came back with a load of stuff in his hands. "See, this-" he said, placing a small box as big as Ash's fist onto the table, "-is a device for storing Pokemon eggs."

Looking closer, Ash could see that it had six tiny wells inside that seemed to be a good fit for tiny eggs.

"Pokemon eggs are larger of course, but this incorporates the same technology as the Poke Ball. It makes carrying around a bunch far easier," the man said. "And this is one of their journals- I've already read it but you can see if you can learn something from it."

The man then showed them two holes at the bottom of the Egg Container. Ash noticed a Silph Co. logo on the bottom, and one hole that was meant for a Poke Ball when it was in its tiny form. "If you happen to catch a Pokemon that knows Magma Armor or Flame Body, you can place a Poke Ball here and the heat apparently gets conducted and makes the eggs hatch faster and develop better. And this slot, well, I honestly can't tell what it's for, but they seemed to be excited talking about it."

The guy then gave Brock quite a bit more tips that he had heard, things like that it was possible to give the mother an Everstone so her nature was transferred to the offspring, or that Pokemon like Magnemite could also breed with a Pokemon like Ditto.

"Thanks," Brock said. "This'll all really help."

"If anything, I'd also like to offer you something else," the man said. "Would you like a job?"

"Huh?"

"I mean if you would like to join me," the man said. "I usually take care of Pokemon- I haven't read up much or have much interest in hatching Pokemon for others. But if you're interested, the two of us could run this place together."

"That's… that's a tought offer," Brock said. Ash couldn't believe that soemoene else was leaving in such a short matter of time- they had barely gotten Misty back right now! "But I don't think I want to commit to a single place right now. I'd like to go out and explore too, I hope you understand."

The man nodded. "Truly I do. I'll tell you one thing lad, if you don't go and try to see the world while you're still young you'll never get around to doing it." He then turned to the others. "Well, would any of you like to leave your Pokemon here to be raised? We charge a modest fee."

"Uh, thanks but no thanks," Ash said. "I'll think I prefer to raise my Pokemon by myself." Misty and Serena nodded.

"I see," the man said. "Of course, in my opinion Pokemon should, of course, be raised by their Trainers. I usually get requests from children, or wealthier patrons who want their work done for them."

Ash nodded- he agreed.

Brock still looked disappointed, even as they were leaving.

"Hey, do you happen to know where they are? Or have their contact number?" Brock asked.

"Oh, no. They told me that they didn't want to be disturbed anymore. They had had enough of the fame for the time being," the man said. "I'm truly sorry that you didn't get to meet them."

"It's alright," Brock said.

They wished the man good luck and on the way all of them tried their best to make Brock feel better on their way to Vermillion City.

Brock seemed to return to his normal self, but he said, "You know, it's not that bad really. I just wanted to meet my childhood heroes, y'know?"

"Yeah, I suppose all dreams don't turn out exactly how you plan them too," Misty said. But then she smiled. "But hey, look on the bright side, you might not always find what you're looking for or get you what you wanted, but you might just find something different, something better. Get what I'm saying?"

Ash and Serena didn't, but Brock seemed to understand. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Looks like it might rain," Serena said, looking at the clouds gathering above the sky.

The mood had gotten far too serious for Ash's liking, so he went ahead and grabbed one of Brock's frying pans out of his bag. "Well, I'll just turn my frying pan…. into a drying pan!" And then Ash put it on like a hat.

The three others stared at him, speechless, before they burst into laughter that lasted for a good few minutes before they could say anything.

"That… has to be the worst joke ever," Misty said.

"If that's so, why are you laughing so bad?" Ash asked.

"It's so bad… that's why it's so funny," Brock said.

It did seem to work though, and it didn't rain thankfully as they made a long and mostly uneventful trek towards Vermillion City.

Oh, sure, the sights were all incredible, especially the huge lake that was nested between two huge forests just outside the city limits, but Ash didn't pay much attention to how the clouds raced past the surface of the lake, or how the deep blue sky embraced legions of Pokemon of all varieties that could fly.

No, Ash Ketchum was interested in getting his third gym badge. So much so that as they finally got there a bit after noon, he said, "I'm gonna go challenge the gym. You guys can go on ahead."

"Ash, we just barely got here," Brock said. "And your Pokemon should rest before a battle like that."

"Yeah," Serena said. "You can't keep pushing them like that Ash… they haven't really battled but they'll need- for that matter, I think you need some rest too."

"Thanks, but no," Ash said. "After all, I breezed through my last two challenges pretty easy."

"Hey!" Brock and Misty said at once.

"So I think you can all head over to the Pokemon Center, and I'll meet up with you guys with my new badge," Ash said.

"Ash, before you challenge a gym leader, you should do more research," Misty said. "Get to know what kinds of Pokemon they use, figure out how you can gain an advantage, and most importantly fight when you're read- oh, so you're just going to walk off anyway, aren't you? I don't know why I bother."

Even someone like Ash had to enjoy one thing about Vermillion City though- the ocean. Being someone who had been cooped up in Pallet Town for practically forever, the vast expanse of water was something majestic enough to render even him speechless for a second- he had turned back before he had seen the coast where Serena had come from.

As such, Serena wasn't very impressed with the ocean- at least not as much as the others and was more focused on the S. S. Anne, a huge cruise ship lined near the pier. They went away from that though, towards the gym which was guarded by two extremely muscular people who looked like bouncers at a bar, and probably performed the same function.

"So, what's with this gang of babies here?" the guy asked.

"I'm here for a challenge!" Ash said.

"Why don't you come back in a few million light years, twerp. You're too young to take on our boss, Surge," the girl said.

"I'll have you know that I haven't lost a single battle since I left from Pallet Town, and I already have two badges," Ash said.

"Probably won 'em from wimps, but our boss ain't like that or the other gym leaders if you'll ask around," the guy said.

"Hey!" both Brock and Misty glared at the guy.

"I'll see about that," Ash said.

The two of them relented and led Ash into the gym.

It was just a large, huge, flat field with a man in a military uniform sitting at the other end of the field. "Well, well, well, I see that someone's crawled out of their crib to take on the big boys, huh? Which one of you losers wants to tussle?"

"You're Surge?" Sreena asked.

" _Lieutenant_ Surge, missy, thank you very much," Surge said as he got up. "Now, do I need to repeat myself, or do you guys don't know what I'm talking about? Who am I supposed to pummel today?"

"I'm the challenger," Ash said. "Pikachu! Go!" His Pikachu stepped forward.

Lt. Surge laughed- a loud, ugly laugh that echoed throughout the gym. "That the best you got? You really is a baby, ain't you? Raichu, go!"

He released a Pokemon much like Pikachu, only that it was larger and was colored slightly differently.

"This battle'll be one on one," Lt. Surge said. "You sure you wanna go ahead and send out that electric rat to fight me?"

Pikachu glared at Lt. Surge angrily. "Yeah," Ash said. Pikachu was a better choice that either Froakie or Charmander at least.

"Well, I see you're still using your training wheels," Lt. Surge said. "You couldn't have bothered evolving your Pikachu? I evolved mine the moment I got it. Heh, but we'll see just what it is that you wanna do."

"Kick his butt, Ash," Misty said as she and the others went to the sidelines.

"Pikachu, start off with a Thunderbolt!" Ash said.

The attack was powerful- Pikachu had grown more experience lately, but the Raichu shook it off.

"Not bad, twerp," Lt. Surge said. "But here's how an _adult_ handles things. Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

The Raichu's Thunderbolt was, no doubt, far more powerful and while it didn't knock Pikachu out, seemed to have done some extensive damage.

Ash realized that spamming Thunderbolts wasn't going to get him out of this situation, so he tried a different approach instead.

"Raichu! Body Slam!" Lt. Surge said.

"Pikachu! Dodge! Use Double Team!" Ash said.

Pikachu managed to avoid the Body Slam not only once, but three times before the Raichu seemed to have anticipated Pikachu's movements and was successful.

Pikachu was getting crushed under Raichu's weight, and with a look as malicious as that of its trainer, Raichu used Bite to strike into Pikachu hard. Pikachu reflexively let out a Thunderbolt, which dazed the Raichu at such a close range, but then Raichu replied with its own Thunderbolt which ended the match for good.

* * *

"I'll see what we can do," Nurse Joy said. "But this is the eleventh case I've seen this month… Lt. Surge really need to learn when to stop using so much force."

"Thank you," Ash said numbly as he saw his Pikachu who had never been injured so badly, except during that time with the Spearow. To think that it had been again reduced to such a state, and all of it was Ash's fault.

Ash went back to the waiting room. This would be a long night.

"Ash, what you need to do is go and challenge him again next morning," Brock said. "Take one of my Pokemon and let's just see what he does against that."

Ash shook his head. "No, I'm definitely going to do this myself."

"Ash," Misty said. "This isn't just about you. This man's been hurting these Pokemon- someone needs to teach him a lesson."

"And he'll get that when I beat him with my own Pikachu," Ash said.

"That's alright Ash, we'll think of something tomorrow," Serena said. "Why don't you eat dinner and get some sleep in the meanwhile?"

"I don't feel like eating, or sleeping right now," Ash said. He wasn't angry at anyone but himself. He kept thinking that he could've done something- anything, to have changed the outcome of that battle.

He didn't sleep but after a while noticed that there was a commotion going on in the Pokemon Center. He really didn't care what the source of all the new activity was, but whatever it was, it wasn't dying down so he decided to check it out.

'What could they be getting so excited about in the middle of the night?' Ash thought as he saw a huge crowd around the television screen.

"What's up?" he asked someone.

"Wait and see, they're repeating the news," the guy answered.

Ash watched the screen while the news reporter went on about something happening in Johto.

"… and now to recap for all of our viewers who have missed out, the Pokemon League Associations of both Kanto and Johto have decided that as the two regions are so closely connected, that they are merging the two associations. As such, the Pokemon League Championship will now no longer be held separately for Johto or Kanto, but as a single large tournament."

Ash raised his eyebrows. Wait- did this mean that he would have to go and wander around Johto to collect eight more badges as well?

"The rules have yet to be put into print, but the League Officials state that trainers only need to defeat eight gym leaders from either region to qualify, so trainers currently on their journeys do not need to worry. The tournament will still be held every single year as usual. However, all eight badges must be from one region, or so the League says. Trainers cannot have four from Kanto and four from Johto. Further updates will be given as and when the Pokemon League finalize this arrangement. People all over are looking forward to this tournament, which will be largest ever held in human history."

Ash turned away from the crowd and began walking back towards his eat earlier. Well, this was new, but it wouldn't change his plans much. If anything, he was feeling excited… this would mean that if he won the Pokemon Leage, he would be the best not only in Kanto but also Johto… two regions!

It was an exciting prospect- but not enough for him to forget what was currently happening to Pikachu at the moment. He finally decided to go and eat something, but stopped mid-meal as he felt he couldn't take another bite. He couldn't see the others, he guessed they were either already asleep or out somewhere doing something without him.

He fell asleep on a nearby sofa that really wasn't too much uncomfortable considering the fact that he'd been sleeping on rough ground for quite a while.

It felt like he had just closed his eyes when he was jolted awake.

"Uh, Mr. Ketchum?" a voice that Ash recognized as Nurse Joy's said.

"Yes?" Ash asked.

"Well, your Pikachu is all better now and is raring to go. There's also something I'd like to show you," she said.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow morning?" Ash asked.

"Well, it is already eight o' clock in the morning, and your friends are up and dressed, and I think they're waiting for you," Nurse Joy said. She could understand how Ash was feeling though, not getting enough sleep was basically the definition for a Pokemon nurse working in a busy Pokemon Center.

Ash somehow managed to get off the sofa, rubbed his eyes, and wearily walked in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to be going until Nurse Joy corrected him.

Pikachu was sitting on a bed, and Serena, Misty, and Brock were there too.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Misty said.

"Misty wanted to draw something on your face with a marker and send it to your mom, but we decided to leave you alone," Serena said.

"Hey! If I remember correctly, weren't you the one who put up the idea in the first place?" Misty asked.

"So what is that you wanted to show us, Nurse Joy?" Brock asked, ignoring everyone but Nurse Joy for the time being.

"Well, I heard you were beaten since Lt. Surge's Raichu is evolved, and I was lucky enough to find this," Nurse Joy said, taking out a beautiful transparent stone that was streaked with yellow bolts uncannily resembling lightning. "A Thunderstone. It'll help your Pikachu evolve into a Raichu. If you want it, that is."

"I think Pikachu should decided," Ash said, placing the Thunderstone at the foot of Pikachu's bed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jessie, James, and Meowth were busy watching from a nearby bush.

"That Thunderstone was expensive, but I think the Boss won't mind if we put it on Team Rocket's tab, as it was for his son and heir, after all," James said.

"Hmm, right, but do you feel like we've done too much?" Jessie asked. "I mean, he's just lost his first battle and we're practically heaping something that will make the rematch easier onto him. Do you think he'll still grow up strong if we keep assisting him? It makes me wonder if I should've or shouldn't have kept that Thunderstone where Nurse Joy'd find it. If he doesn't go through hardship on his own, it'll make things much more difficult for him in the long run."

"Nah don't worry," Meowth said. "We need to make up somewhat for pretty much leavin' the poor kid near Cerulean City. Couldn't come close with all the cops swarmin' around the place like Combee. And I thinks the kid needs a break."

Much to their surprise though, Pikachu refused the Thunderstone and began ranting.

"Oh, oh dear," Meowth said, teary-eyed as Pikachu finished its speech.

"Stop crying and tell us what he said," James and Jessie said in unison.

Meowth wiped away a tear and said, "Pikachu says that it doesn't want the Thunderstone, 'cuz it wants to strike out at Raichu, not as another Raichu, but as a Pikachu. Raichu looked down on Pikachu, and Pikachu said that he's gonna make that right, and strike a blow not only for himself, but for Pikachu everywhere so that they can be proud of who they are."

"Wow," James said. "That's really cool and all, kind of like an action hero, but this does mean that we wasted a good amount of our funds on that Thunderstone."

"Oh come on James," Jessie said. "This is a Pokemon Center, how hard do you think it's gonna be to snatch it back from Nurse Joy's gullible hands?"


	12. Meanwhile In Johto

**A/N: And we're back! Sorry that it's been some time. Thanks for waiting and for the reviews. As of now I haven't decided on a final pairing, or even if there will be one.**

Silver absentmindedly stirred his coffee as he tried to take in the news of what was happening.

Lance, Elite Four Champion, was on the television screen giving a speech from the exit of Victory Road itself. The Victory Road this was little more than a gimmick as chairs and tables had been laid out, but it did look impressive nonetheless.

"And, well, as many of you would know, I'm the Elite Four Champion of both Kanto and Johto, and many members of Kanto and Johto have been hopping around throughout the Pokemon League's administration from one side to the other for years. And it was when we decided to build a large bridge connecting Johto and Kanto, and with the two regions so closely related together, it only seemed natural for us to bring the regions together finally."

Silver shuddered. He had several scars on his back from when he had been stupid enough to try and steal several Dratini eggs from Lance's own possession when Silver was just ten years old… and he had barely gotten out of that situation alive. The scars twitched whenever he was reminded of the Elite Four Champion.

"And so," Lance continued, "it was a bit of a big decision, but now this means that the Kanto & Johto League is now the largest current Pokemon Tournament in the whole world."

"But don't you think it would've been better to wait regarding these changes?" the interviewer, a typical young reporter asked. "I mean, won't trainers need time to adjust to these changes?"

"Well, that is a valid point, but the League seasons for both Kanto and Johto were already pretty synchronized," Lance said. "And the season has just started anyway. But to be sure that there aren't any people left behind, we've decided to extend the campaigning season by a month. Not to mention that next year is a leap year anyway, so everyone gets an extra day from that." Lance chuckled, and the reported politely made a few noises that resembled a Psyduck sneezing at the rather lame joke.

"So, everyone's next big question then is- where will this new contest be held?" the reporter asked.

Lance looked uncomfortable at the question. "That is a matter, that ah, has yet to be resolved. We- that is to say, League officials as well as I, believe that for now we are considering having it in the Indigo Plateau."

The reporter looked shocked. "But… that's in Kanto, no? And that's where the old Pokemon League in Kanto was held."

"Yes, so that way it would be easier to organize," Lance said.

"But, that means that there won't be any Pokemon League somewhere near Johto," the reporter said. "And the Pokemon League tournaments within Johto generate a lot of revenue and publicity for the people of Johto. All of that would be lost, and does the Indigo Plateau have enough room to accommodate double the number of normal people?"

Lance looked even more uncomfortable now. "Again, it isn't as if we've finalized the location for the event. We're still looking into it and rest assured that all Pokemon trainers will be given enough time once the location is finalized so that they can reach there."

The screen then cut to another reporter saying, "But not everyone is happy with what Elite Four Champion Lance had to say."

The screen cut to a man in a business suit who looked really angry- come to think of it Silver had seen the guy before, and he was that one guy on TV who was always angry at something or the other.

"This is just intolerable, inexcusable, egregious, misplaced, moronic, capitalist, racist, nationalist, communist mumbo-jumbo designed to oppress the masses!" the guy said. "Let's get one thing straight here- this is all just another example of how Kantonese culture has come to dominate Johto. It all started of course with them winning the Kanto-Johto war a few years back and ever since then, Johto has lived under Kanto's foot. Wake up people of Johto- Lance here is trying to finish Kanto's domination of our region and our culture, and I for one am not going to stand- uh, sit here and see him do it!"

The screen flickered.

"As you can see here, this has angered many people. Here you can see protestors outside the Johto Pokemon League Headquarters burning effigies of Lance and declaring that there should still be two Pokemon Leagues. People have been selling small plush dolls of Lance online and then blowing them up in elaborate manners and uploading the videos online…"

The news kept blaring after that, but Silver wasn't really listening anymore.

Instead, he was thinking about how weird it was that this was all happening and just what it meant for him. He had heard about the Kanto-Johto War, or at least the very latest one but it had been a few years before he had been born. But the independence of Johto's culture wasn't on his mind.

No- it was a dream that he- no, that every kid in the world had. About winning the Pokemon League and claiming his position as Pokemon Master.

Now, Silver had given up on that idea a long time ago- but right now, he felt as if it had reawakened.

He took out the badge he had 'won' from Bugsly. He had been working on trying to counterfeit it for the last few days- sure, when he was fourteen he had sold an entire set of knockoff badges to a businessman for a sum that was enough to feed him for a year, but if he could just figure out how to actually make replicas of the badges that even the Pokemon League couldn't tell apart from their originals but it wasn't going smoothly. His dreams of building a huge fortune from selling counterfeit badges would have to be put on hold for now.

Silver gazed at the surface of his coffee which reflected a distorted image of him. There was a point in every person's life where one had to ask- where am I going with things?

Silver had agreed to go along with his father's plan since, given that he was already labeled as a crook he naturally assumed that becoming leader of Team Rocket was about the best that he could ever accomplish in life. And yet no matter how much he told himself that this was the most practical thing to do at this point.

And still, he couldn't keep the image out of his heart. An image of him entering the Pokemon League and competing for glory… he might have even ended up fighting against his brother in the tournament now given that the two regions would be combined.

But still, facing the facts, he had to say that he had no idea how he'd go about doing it. Without a doubt he was now one of Johto's most wanted men… but a disguise could help. But then the whole thing would involve sneaking it in behind his father's back… sure, his father had pretty much given him free reign to do what he wanted but Silver was sure that running around and collecting Gym Badges didn't come under what his father wanted him to do for Team Rocket.

As such, it wasn't like Silver was scared of his father or anything… but he was far less gung-ho about being Team Rocket's heir now that that Ash boy had turned up. It made him look… disposable. It was a reminder that Giovanni had someone else to turn to in case Silver ever went rogue or turned out to be too much of a problem.

'It's just a stupid dream,' Silver told himself. 'You're not really going to do it.'

But then again, if that was true, he wouldn't have been here. No, he would have gone to check out the new shipment of smuggled Pokemon by himself instead of ordering Butch and Cassidy to do it for him. The fact that he was still sitting here, contemplating if he could do it meant that somewhere deep down at least he considered it possible.

"I'll be going out to see what Butch and Cassidy are up to," Silver told one of his minions.

"Anything ya might need sir?" the guy asked.

"No," Silver said and took two steps before he stopped and then said, "Come to think of it… buy a few of those Lance plush dolls they're selling, would you? And maybe some dynamite."

* * *

Silver fidgeted in his disguise. Butch and Cassidy had helped him pick it out, and they swore that Silver was unrecognizable in it… but given what most people in Team Rocket considered to be a 'good disguise' of course Silver had his doubts.

Silver had dyed his hair black and cut it a bit short. He was wearing blue contact lenses and was wearing clothes that were supposedly 'hip' according to whatever he saw on television consisting of sunglasses, ripped jeans, and a black t-shirt with a Duskull printed on it. Butch and Cassidy had suggested that he dress up as a girl as it would throw off suspicion even more, but Silver wasn't that desperate. He wasn't going to cross-dress just so that he could challenge a gym.

He didn't tell the two of them what he was planning to do of course, they were too loyal to his dad and he wanted to keep a lid on things for now. So he had snuck out on some other pretext and had to get his badge… and fast. He had forged an ID in the Pokemon League database and as far as he knew it wouldn't raise too many questions.

Falkner was inside the gym. Silver didn't bother taking in the details of the gym- he had been here before back when he was eight and had been secretly living in the basement for about a week.

"Hello challenger," Falkner said, starting the usual intro given by gym leaders. "I see that you're here to fight me. Well then, prepared to be struck from above by my flying types!"

Silver rolled his eyes. "Just get this over with…" he muttered. "Sneasel! Go!"

"Hoothoot!" Falkner said and sent out a small owl-like Pokemon.

Silver had the advantage of speed- given that it had a natural edge over speed and the fact that it had been trained from Silver's childhood to be as swift as possible.

"Icy Wind!" Silver said. The attack hit home, and it was enough to send the enemy Pokemon toppling.

Silver was surprised at the swift and easy victory. Sure, he had taken down Bugys with no apparent effort but he had been expecting a sort of challenge at the very least… oh well, he wasn't going to complain.

"Pidgeotto! Go!" Falkner said and sent out what Silver guessed was his signature Pokemon.

"Come back Sneasel! Go! Croconaw!" Silver said. It wasn't that he was afraid his Sneasel couldn't handle the Pokemon, but he wanted his Croconaw to get in some battle experience too.

"Pidgeotto! Gust!" Falkner said.

"Water Gun!" Silver said.

Again, it appeared that Croconaw way outclassed the opponent Pidgeotto and the Water Gun did a lot of damage, enough for Silver's Croconaw to jump up and clench the Pokemon between its teeth. All it took was a single Ice Fang for Silver to win the battle from there.

"Wow… you're pretty strong," Falkner said.

'Oh you're pretty weak,' Silver thought. If all the gym leaders were this weak, he would soon have all eight of them.

Silver tried not to talk too much… he was pretty good at throwing his voice but he couldn't really count on it.

"Oh, the strong and silent type, huh?" Falkner asked. "Well, I remember a very powerful trainer much like that."

Silver just nodded and walked out of the gym where he then changed back into his normal clothes before heading back towards the Team Rocket Headquarters.

 **A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I felt it was necessary to get Silver in here again. Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked.**

 **Alternate lines:**

Silver wasn't about to cross-dress just so that he could challenge a gym. He wasn't that desperate.

Miles away, in Kanto, Ash Ketchum shook his head and said, "Pathetic."


	13. A Shocking Revelation!

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Yeah, I get that the Silver segments aren't quite all that exciting in the middle so maybe I'll try to limit them. As for my favorite Youtuber, well, I used to watch a lot of Pokemon videos but I don't remember most of their names except maybe Marriland and Scykoh. It gets a bit hard to remember names with letters and numbers thrown in between. Thanks Pokemark17, Johnathen, and Thrakon Deus for the reviews.**

Ash, once he had had breakfast shook the sleep from his eyes. Pikachu was feeling well enough to have another go at Lt. Surge, and if so, Ash wasn't going to hold him back.

"Again, Ash, you should probably wait a bit more," Misty said. "You can challenge him tomorrow. Pikachu'll be tired from all of that."

"Not to mention you'll be tired too," Selena said. "If both of you are exhausted, how're you going to win?"

Pikachu, in response to this, flexed its arm and ran around in circles, indicating that it was all right.

"Yeah that's right, we're ready to take him on another time," Ash said. "And I won't underestimate him this time."

"Ash, you do realize that practically nothing has changed from yesterday?" Brock asked. "So why do you expect the result to be different this time?"

"Don't worry guys- I have a plan," Ash said. None of the three seemed to be very convinced.

The two bouncers were absent from the front of the gym for some reason, so Ash pushed on the door and it swung inside readily. Gyms were technically public buildings so he assumed that it was okay to go in.

"Hello?" Ash asked.

Lt. Surge was there in the center, flipping through a book. He looked up suddenly. "I wasn't expecting a challenger all so soon." He then frowned. "Wait- you're the kid from yesterday…"

"And I'm here for a rematch," Ash said. His Pikachu said "Pika!" and hopped forward.

Lt. Surge laughed. "Kid, why do you wanna do this to yourself? I pounded you and your puny Pokemon yesterday. What happened- did you suddenly reach Poke-Nirvana overnight? But you know what- my Raichu is always willing to play."

Lt. Surge sent out his Raichu. Pikachu growled and tried to appear threatening to its opponent. Raichu was unfazed by this attempt and merely grinned maliciously.

"So, let's get this show on the road," Lt. Surge said. "Raichu! Go!"

Before it could make a single move though, there was a loud noise and suddenly smoke engulfed the arena.

"What's happening?" Selena asked, covering her face with a pink handkerchief that pictures of a Lopunny and Gardevoir on it.

A voice emanated from above. "Prepare for trouble…"

"And make it double."

"To protect the world from devastation-"

"To unite all evil within our nation-"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love-"

"To extend our reach to the stars above-"

"Jessie," Jessie said as the smoke cleared.

"James," James added.

"Meowth, that's right," Meowth said.

"You guys again?" Misty asked.

"Who're these clowns?" Lt. Surge barked.

"Hey! Watch what you're saying, mister!" Jessie snorted back.

"Long story short, we're here to take your Raichu and Pikachu," James said.

Both Pikachu and Raichu were caught in a net which was hanging by a rope to the bottom of Team Rocket's air balloon. Raichu was trying to shock its way out, but the net was probably insulated as it had no effect.

"Not on our watch!" Misty said. "Go! Starmie!'

"Go! Onix!" Brock said.

"Go! Fennekin!" Selena said.

Ash watched as Jessie and James retaliated by sending out Ekans and Koffing…. and despite being outnumbered, the two Pokemon were able to keep the others at bay as Team Rocket made its escape in their air balloon.

Ash had to admit that that was pretty impressive- and then it occurred to him that he had never seen Jessie and James _actually_ battle someone. He shuddered as he imagined what it would be like to really fight them in a serious encounter- he doubted he would emerge victorious from that. He also realized that Ekans and Koffing, Pokemon which hadn't even evolved probably were neither their only nor their strongest Pokemon. And they were ascending rather slowly in their baloon… as if they weren't keen on running away with the Pokemon but instead were waiting for something-

"Ash! What're you doing?" Misty snapped at him.

Ash shook himself out of the reverie. Thing was that the attack was so unexpected and since he privately knew that Jessie and James weren't really trying to fight him or steal his Pikachu he had forgotten that he was supposed to be fighting them.

"Go! Frogadier!" Ash shouted.

As soon as his Frogadier joined the fray, Team Rocket's line of two Pokemon, which up to this point had held against two gym leaders and Selena, now somehow suddenly buckled and Ash's Frogadier easily defeated them.

"Gah!" James said as he fainted shock.

"Water Pulse!" Ash said. "Cut Raichu and Pikachu free!"

A single attack cut the rope- Ash had expected it to be reinforced against all but the strongest attacks but he reminded himself that Jessie and James were being paid to lose, after all.

Pikachu and Raichu landed lightly on the floor.

"Time to blow 'em to kingdom come!" Lt. Surge said. "Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash said.

Ash flinched as he saw Team Rocket suffer from the combined attack (their screams echoed over the gym and it hadn't been his intention to cause them any serious pain) and their balloon subsequently lose air and suddenly whiz off in some other direction as their screams dimmed out- "Team Rocket's blasting off agggaaaaaiiiiin!"

After that there was a moment of relative calm in the Gym. Ash really hoped that Team Rocket hadn't been seriously injured, but he was distracted from his guilt soon enough.

"Thanks sport," Lt. Surge said, suddenly lacking the usual arrogant tone in his voice. "Those thieves almost made off with my Raichu. And I'm guessing the net was insulated, otherwise I would've taken punks like 'em out myself."

"It was nothing," Ash said.

"Yeah, don't mention it," Misty said. "Those guys deserve every bad thing that happens to them."

"Yeah, well, that may be, but _you_ in particular were good," Lt. Surge said. "I saw those two hold off the other three until you went ahead and attacked them."

"Uh, yeah, but all my friends did help," Ash said.

Lt. Surge shook his head. "You don't give yourself enough credit kid. I saw that you were the one who broke their formation. It was you who really sent them scurrying off." He then took something out and handed it to Ash. "Here's your badge." He held out the Thunder Badge for Ash to take.

"Huh? I haven't won yet though," Ash said.

"You don't need to," Lt. Surge said. "According to League Regulations, if you beat me, I've gotta hand over a badge to ya, but even if you lose, I can still give it so long as I feel that you've fought valiantly. What you just did is more than proof enough of your worth, kid. Here, you've earned this."

Ash almost took the badge but then clenched his hand at the last moment.

"What happened?" Selena asked.

"Sorry," Ash said. "But it isn't just the badge- this battle means a lot to Pikachu as well. Thank you for the badge, but I want a rematch too."

Lt. Surge looked surprised, and then laughed- a weird, harsh laugh that echoed around the gym and left through the hole Team Rocket had made in the roof. "You're a strange one, kid, I'll give you that. But sure I'll give you a battle, just don't expect me or my Raichu to go easy on ya just 'cuz you saved us."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Ash said.

Misty sighed. "So he gets a lucky break and he chooses to throw it away?"

Selena shook her head. "No- it isn't just about the badge. Pikachu's confidence is broken right now- and both Ash and Pikachu need this win. Ash's always been like this and he's not going to back down from this."

"I just hope Ash knows what he's doing," Brock said. "He said he had a plan… but he can be a bit of a knucklehead sometimes."

Misty snorted. "Sometimes?"

Ash ignored them as the two Pokemon sized each other up.

"Alright! Let's get this started already!" Lt. Surge said. "Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu, use Double Team and then Quick Attack to dodge!" Ash said.

Pikachu began replicating images of itself and then ran around the field with such speed that it was impossible for the opponent's Raichu to aim properly.

"Body Slam!" Lt. Surge said as he saw Pikachu slow down.

Raichu launched itself in the air but Ash waited for the last minute before ordering his Pikachu to get out of the way.

"You don't get one thing," Ash said. "Raichu is bigger than Pikachu- but that also means that it's a whole lot slower than Pikachu too!"

Raichu hit the ground hard, and then Ash took the opportunity to launch Pikachu's own Thunderbolt at it. The attack hit home but didn't do much more than really annoy Raichu.

"Body Slam! Again!" Lt. Surge said.

"Dodge!" Ash said. "And then use Slam!"

This time Pikachu got out of the way too, and the Slam was much better than the Thunderbolt in dealing damage. Raichu got up, but it was dizzy now.

"Huh," Brock said. "Raichu's so heavy that landing on the ground like that must be damaging in itself…"

"Wow, he's actually winning…" Selena said.

"He hasn't won yet," Misty said.

"Enough! Thunderbolt!" Lt. Surge roared at the top of his lungs. Pikachu leaped aside and then finished the fight with a Slam.

Raichu teetered and then fell to the ground.

"I don't believe it," Lt. Surge said, shocked. "I didn't underestimate you or anything… but just how?"

Ash wasn't even listening though as he grabbed Pikachu and started throwing him in the air. "We did it! We did it!"

"Well, that was shocking to say the least," Lt. Surge said. "I judged you wrong kiddo. You've got a lot ahead of you. Before you leave though, could you show me your Pokedex for a second?"

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Let me just upload your data and send it to the League," Lt. Surge said. "I'll tell them how great a job you did- you might see your name in the paper too."

"Yeah, like we did nothing," Misty said so softly no one could hear her.

"Uh, again, it was nothing," Ash said. It was weird, as always, to be praised for something like this.

"Trust me, we need more Trainers like you who are willing to stand up to Team Rocket," Lt. Surge said. "I'll tell the League that you're someone that they can rely on if they ever need someone to tackle Team Rocket in an area and there's no one else around. Just be sure not to take on more than you can chew."

"Really?" Ash asked, surprised. If that was true… well, he was a whole lot closer to accomplishing all that his father expected of him.

* * *

Ash decided to drop off Pikachu to the Pokemon Center for a quick break… but when he approached Nurse Joy she had a worried look on her face when she saw him.

"Are you perhaps the same boy who caught a Charmander north of Cerulean City and stayed at the Pokemon Center there?" she asked.

"Yes," Ash said.

"Oh," Nurse Joy said. "My sister called and I'm afraid I have some serious matters to discuss with you."

"Huh?" Ash asked, the euphoria from winning suddenly evaporating. "What?"

"We should speak in private," Nurse Joy said as she led him towards a room.

"I'd like my friends to be there though," Ash said.

"Well, fine then, but please have a seat," Nurse Joy said. "Let me just get the report."

So the four of them were then left alone in the room.

"What'd you think happened?" Ash asked no one in particular.

They all either shook their heads or shrugged their shoulders.

Nurse Joy didn't take long. She shut the door behind her. "I have some blood reports from your Charmander. If I'm not wrong- it hatched and was rather small, correct?"

"Well, I wasn't there when it happened, but yeah, I heard that's how it was," Ash said.

"I think I may have discovered the reason for such," Nurse Joy said. "It appears that your Charmander has been infected by a rare virus named Pokerus."

"Pokerus?"

"Yes, it's a fusion of the words Pokemon and virus- the only known virus which infects Pokemon to date," Nurse Joy said. "I'm not sure how or why, but I'm guessing that your Charmander was infected as an egg and that's why it hasn't grown so well."

"What does Pokerus do? Is Charmander gonna be okay?" Ash asked.

"Most Pokemon are asymptomatic or just have a mild flu when they catch the virus," Nurse Joy said. "And it usually wears off after two to four days, when the virus fully integrates with the host cell's DNA and it stops replicating. Pokemon aren't infectious then. But the thing is that for some reason, your Charmander has active viral DNA still present in it, and based on the type of antibodies that it has produced against it, the infection is probably several weeks old… about its age."

"So… what does it mean?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid we'll have to ask around, I'm no specialist- I've only seen one case of Pokerus in my whole lifetime up until now and this seems to be a peculiar case. I'm assuming that if the infection is still active, then it would have spread to your other Pokemon, in which case we should get them examined too. And we're not sure how the virus affects humans- why are you suddenly sweating?"

"I just remembered," Ash said, suddenly shaking. His head suddenly felt heavy and he felt like the room was spinning around. "Charmander bit me some time ago."

"It's probably nothing," Nurse Joy said reassuringly. "But we can get you scanned just in case. And I'll need a bone marrow biopsy from your Charmander and blood tests from your other Pokemon. Professor Oak is one of the scientists who's been researching this, so I suppose he might be of some help."

"Okay," Ash said, calming down a bit. It didn't seem like it was anything too bad.

The tests took about an hour, and after they were done and Ash and his Pokemon were rubbing the spots where needles had pricked them, the question now arose as to what to do next. The test results could take up to several weeks to arrive and Nurse Joy had assured them that she could contact them anywhere so it wouldn't be a problem if they moved on.

"Yeah, but let's stay here for a while," Misty said. "There's so much to do! I mean, there's a cruise ship about to leave the place, and there's some area with Pokemon to the east of here. Plus, there's the ocean of all places, I want to see what kind of Water Pokemon there are."

"Yeah, I suppose relaxing by the beach wouldn't be a bad idea," Selena said, lost in a daydream involving the entire gang. "Everyone in swimwear for the first time…" she whispered softly to herself.

"Well, if you don't mind, we could check out the Pokemon Fan Club chapter of Kanto first," Brock said. "I've heard of them- they once supported the Pokemon Day Care and they just might have some info.."

"Seems like a plan for now," Ash said.

"Pika pii," Pikachu said in agreement.

Ash was actually just so happy about winning that he was willing to follow the others around practically anywhere just for today. He had accomplished what he had set out for, and now he supposed it wasn't a bad thing to wait and relax a bit.

The Pokemon Fan Club building was shaped like an old schoolhouse and there was a roaring crowd gathered outside with people who had set up stalls selling products ranging from Luxury Balls to Soothe Bells.

They stopped outside for a while but then decided to head on inside since Brock was getting a bit impatient.

"I saw the President in a newspaper clipping once, I think I'd reco- oh, there he is!" Brock said.

The President of the Pokemon Fan club was a man who was even smaller than Ash who was talking to someone else.

"So… what do you think is a good icebreaker?" Brock asked, suddenly a bit nervous.

But before Brock could answer, the person the President was talking to turned around.

It was then that Ash almost swallowed a lung.

It was Giovanni. He was wearing a lab coat and had glasses on- but there was no doubt that it was him.

"Come on Brock, no need to be so shy," Misty said. "But if you are looking for something to say at parties, you can always introduce yourself as a gym leader, people always are impressed when they hear you're a gym leader."

Brock approached the two and when there was a lapse in their conversation, interrupted by clearing his throat.

"Pardon me, but my name is Brock, ex-gym leader of Pewter City. Mind if I have a word?"

"Oh ho, a gym leader?" the President asked. "I must say that I always love meeting a strong trainer- but if I have to be absolutely honest, I prefer for them to stay cute. When they battle they develop ugly muscles and evolve."

"Uh, right," Brock said. He then turned to Giovanni. "Excuse me, I'm sorry but I don't know your name."

"Ah, I am Professor Gregor from the Sinnoh region," Giovanni said and shook Brock's hand. "And you would be…?" he asked Selena and Misty.

"Selena, I'm from Kalos."

"Misty. I'm one of the gym leaders of Cerulean City."

"Wow, two gym leaders in one day?" Giovanni said in astonishment that almost sounded genuine. He then saw Ash and frowned. "You… have we met before? I recognize you from somewhere..."

Now, Ash was pretty sure that his father had not suddenly developed amnesia and forgotten who he was and this was all some sort of a ruse, but the question arose as to what the goal of the ruse was.

"Ah!" Giovanni said. "Yes, you are the boy I was talking about! Are you not the wunderkind who just recently saved this city's gym from a raid by Team Rocket?"

"Ah yes!" the President exclaimed. "You were just on the news! By Arceus boy, you must be extremely brave to have gone and stood up to them."

"Indeed," Giovanni said. "And it is at this point that I would like to make a small request, if you would, Mr…?"

"Ash Ketchum," Ash said.

"Well, you see I study fossils and was going to go on my way towards Pewter City. I planned to go through Diglett Tunnel, but as I have no Pokemon I'm rather defenseless in such an endeavor, and speed is of the utmost concern to me on my ah, voyage," Giovanni said. "I've asked the police department for an escort, but it will take several days for them to prepare. If it isn't too much trouble… could I perhaps ask of you to take me to Pewter City?"

"Uh, well…" Misty stuttered awkwardly. Ash could see it in her eyes- the dreams of relaxing on the beach were evaporating. She didn't want to say yes and yet couldn't find the right way to say no. This was mirrored on Selena's and Brock's faces.

"Well, if it is too much trouble, I suppose I could wait…" Giovanni answered.

"Uh, no, it isn't a problem at all," Ash said, surprising the other three. "We can take you there in no time at all."

Misty shout him a look that practically screamed, 'Are you serious about this?' and both Brock and Selena seemed to be surprised at how quickly Ash had agreed to the thing. He guessed none of them wanted to go and spend time spelunking in some damp, dark cave.

"Well, I wouldn't want to seem like I'm interfering with anything that you're doing," Giovanni said.

"Nah, it isn't a problem at all," Ash said. "Plus, I've always liked fossils."

Now, that certainly raised the eyebrows of three people in the room.

And that was how Ash and his gang ended up escorting Giovanni through Diglett Tunnel.

 **A/N: And we end on that note for now. Thanks for reading and do review if you liked. And sicne this is based off the Pokemon anime, I might as well say this at the end,**

 **'Why is Giovanni here? What does he want? And why does Ash need to escort him through Diglett Tunnel? Why hasn't Ash given the Porygon back to Team Rocket yet? Did the writer just seriously forget that the Porygon existed for that matter? And what is going to happen regarding this Pokerus disease? Find out next time on Pokemon!'**


	14. Evolution Tales

**A/N: Long time no see folks! Sorry for the huge delay, real life got in the way. Yeah, I misspelled Greninja instead of Frogadier, something I almost did this chapter too. I keep thinking of it as Ash's Greninja so that happens a lot...**

Ash was munching on some jelly beans as his Pokemon ran around him.

He had to admit it was a nice day by the beach with the sky not having a single cloud to mar it, and his Pokemon were getting along with each other pretty well too.

His Pikachu then straddled up to him and pointed to the jelly beans.

"Oh, you want one too?" Ash asked. "Here," he said and handed his Pikachu a green jelly bean.

"Not the green one, the blue one," Pikachu said. "I don't like the green ones."

"Really?" Ash said. "I don't like them either."

"Who doesn't like green jelly beans?" his Frogadier asked.

"I like all of them," his Charmander added.

And it was then that it hit Ash.

"Wait- you guys can talk!" he exclaimed.

"Sure we can- Pokemon can always talk to other Pokemon," Charmander said.

Ash wasn't sure what was going on so he crept over to a nearby puddle and saw his reflection in it.

He had turned into a Clefairy- just like Bill!

"How did this happen?" Ash screamed and then Nurse Joy's word's echoed: Ash, we don't know if Pokerus is transmissible to humans or not.

"I've become a Pokemon now!" Ash realized.

Suddenly, Brock, Misty, and Serena showed up. "Hey, where's Ash?" Brock asked.

"I don't know, but look, there's a weird Pokemon right there," Misty said.

"Guys, it's me, Ash!" Ash said but apparently the other three couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Let's catch it!" Serena said.

Ash tried running away, but then a Fennekin popped out and challenged him to a fight.

"Don't worry," Serena said. "You and I are going to be together forever!"

"No!" Ash screamed. "I don't want to be trapped inside a small space and be forced to obey commands!"

* * *

And with that, Ash's eyes snapped open and he took a good look around his surroundings.

He checked his hands first of all and saw that they were indeed, human hands. That had all been a bad dream. There was some faint light coming from the window, so it meant that it was a bit past sunrise. Brock was snoring away though, and even Ash didn't find 'sleeping like a rock' puns funny anymore to describe Brock while he was in dreamland anymore.

Ash decided to get dressed. It was then that he remembered the events of the past day. Once he had agreed to go and escort Giovanni through Diglett Tunnel, his dad had said that they'd leave next morning sharp and so the other three had glared at him angrily and decided to make the most of the rest of the day by hanging out at the beach.

Ash got breakfast out of the way and as his friends joined him he noticed that Misty and Brock were still pretty cool towards him… not enough to be overtly noticeable but enough so that even Ash could tell. Selena seemed to be the only one who didn't think that this trip was going to be a waste of time.

"Come on guys, I know that you don't want to go along with this but I already said yes so we might as well make a small detour, how about that?" Ash said.

None of the others responded so it looked like they were going to give him the silent treatment for the most part.

Giovanni arrived at the entrance ten minutes after they had. He was still introducing himself as Professor Gregor though and he was wearing a white lab coat like Professor Oak and had a small suitcase.

There were the usual introductions with Professor Gregor apologizing for all the inconvenience and them acting like it was no deal.

They entered the tunnel and got to know that it was pretty dark, but far more oppressing than the surrounding darkness was the deafening silence as none of them had anything to say.

Needless to point out, it got _very_ awkward very fast.

"Hey look, a Diglett," Ash pointed out as he saw one.

"Oh," Serena said.

"Yeah," Brock said.

"That's a Diglett," Misty said.

"Pika pii pii," Pikachu said.

"Mmmhmm," Giovanni said.

And it lapsed back into silence after that.

"So, what exactly does your work involve?" Ash asked ten minutes later when it became far too uncomfortable for his taste.

"Oh, I work on studying Pokemon evolution very broadly speaking," Giovanni said.

"You mean like a Charmander turning into Charizard sort of thing?" Ash asked.

"Oh no, sorry, most people confuse the proper terms. What you and most commoners call 'Pokemon evolution' is in truth really just 'Pokemon metamorphosis' really," Giovanni said. "A Charmander turns into a Charmeleon and then a Charizard- now that's just happening to a single Pokemon and it is an irreversible change occurring during its normal life cycle- which is truly called metamorphosis, or it should be at least. When I talk of evolution, I talk about a phenomenon that deals with a large-scale changes in Pokemon species."

It was clear that no one besides him had understood very well what Giovanni was talking about, so he delved further.

"Well, let me try explaining it the best that I can without this turning into a university lecture," Giovanni said. "Let's start with the beginning here- you all may be very aware of the fact that Mew has long since been considered the ancestor of all Pokemon?"

"Yeah," they all echoed.

"But it is also said that Arceus was the one who created the universe, and Arceus is still a Pokemon," Giovanni said. "And this only means that there is a blatant contradiction in there somewhere. Now, regardless of which view you choose to hold, there remains the fact that regardless of who came first- how did the other Pokemon species emerge from them? What would a 'Pokemon tree of life' look like? Now, of course, we haven't done enough fossil research to find out- but I believe given that there's enough evidence that some Pokemon species are more recent than others that not all of them were created at the same time. Instead, there were a few species in the beginning which then gradually diversified to give us all that we see today. Now tell me, which Pokemon type has the most species?"

"Water?" Misty asked.

"Normal," Serena said.

"Normal followed by Water, yes, now that is correct." Giovanni said. "Now, this is what we believe from 'evolution.' If there is a Pokemon species, then its main aim in life is to eat, breathe, and breed, and with resources always being limited, the Pokemon which are better in fighting off each other or competing for resources will be the ones that survive. Given this, it only follows that since Arceus is a Normal type Pokemon- well, that would make Normal type Pokemon the first Pokemon type to exist if Arceus created them 'in his own image' as they say, and we can see that all around us. Normal type Pokemon greatly outnumber any other Pokemon type by a huge margin- and they are found everywhere. Such a huge distribution would usually make one think- perhaps they're so numerous because they had more time than other types to grow and thrive and develop into species. Plus, they have very few type disadvantages and no advantage, implying that there were no other types at the time for the Normal type to have an advantage against. On the other hand, Mew, a Psychic type doesn't have such a strong claim to the throne given that there are so few Psychic type Pokemon around."

"So, Mew isn't the ancestor of all Pokemon?" Brock asked.

"Well, everything like that is always up for debate, as you can well understand, with everyone saying and quoting something else, but yes, that's where it leads me too," Giovanni said. "I think that Mew is somehow related to Ditto, given its ability to Transform much like Ditto does. So anyway, that is a simplified version of what Pokemon evolution deals with, questions like asking why they're so many Water Pokemon or why Kanto has so many Poison types- where did Steel, Dark, and Fairy types suddenly spring out from and why some Pokemon are only found in some specific areas. If you're wondering about what I'm working on right now though, it's answering one of those questions: just why are there so many Poison type Pokemon in Kanto compared to the other regions of the world?"

"Do you have an answer yet?" Ash asked. He had to admit that his dad actually seemed to know what he was saying- though it was entirely possible that it was all just nonsense and he was trying to stall- though for what, Ash didn't know. Ash still hadn't figured out just what this whole trip was really supposed to be about.

"Well, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that there's a huge advantage to being a Poison type," Giovanni said. "In any battle if you can poison your enemy, well, you can wait for your prey to die on its own without trying to kill it. It's an excellent tool for defense and most Pokemon would rather flee than risk a fight with a Poison type Pokemon. But beyond that though, I think that the main reason that there are so many Poison type Pokemon around is that the Poison type offers protection from being poisoned- so as more and more Poison type Pokemon spring up all across the world it became more important to be a Poison type to be protected from poison and so on and so forth."

"Oh," Ash said. "Yeah, I guess that'd make sense."

"Oh, of course I think it does," Giovanni said. "But it is necessary that there is evidence to back it up, sadly common sense doesn't get you far and can be very wrong at times. I mean, you extend the same thing to Fire types or Electric types thanks to burn and paralysis, but there aren't that many of them around." He then paused and said, "There's a light up ahead in the tunnel. It's far too early for us to have reached Pewter City yet, but I think that we can explore a bit of what's outside."

The tunnel led out into a small field and there was Viridian Forest visible far away in the distance. They had come far, but not far enough.

"Why don't we stop for lunch?" Brock said. "I don't think we'll get another opportunity like this."

"Yeah, first we'll have to gather firewood I guess," Misty said.

"Okay, so let's split up," Brock said. "I'll gather some nice berries that I hear grow around this area- it really helps add some spice to what I plan to make. I guess everyone else needs to gather firewood then."

"Okay," Serena and Misty said and ran off in the same direction before glaring at each other and running off in separate directions. Brock on the other hand wandered off more slowly.

Ash didn't move though as he noticed that for the first time in a while, both he and his father were alone.

"So, would you mind telling me what all of this is about?" Ash asked.

"Oh, to be perfectly honest I was on my way through town and decided to drop you a visit," Giovanni said. "There's a lot that I'd like to discuss with you Ash, but the thing remains that we don't have that much time alone, and I do not think that you're just ready enough yet to have all the secrets of the Rocket empire just handed over to you on a silver platter. Oh, and don't take that the wrong way, I have to say that you've been doing a marvelous job up till now. Though I have to say a lot of it is thanks to Jessie and James working as your PR managers, you've developed quite a reputation for yourself. But first of all, you should hand over that Porygon that you've had on hand for far to long."

Ash handed the Porygon over.

"Ah, marvelous what mankind can accomplish. Let me tell you something, boy, all of those hippies who wander about talking about the 'power of nature' are deluded- as mankind has only scraped the surface of its true potential," Giovanni said. "Like this Pokemon here."

Ash shrugged. He wasn't sure where he stood on the side of that debate.

"So, you put a whole lot of thought into this whole 'professor' act," Ash said. "I really couldn't tell you apart from someone like Professor Oak."

"Who said I was acting?" Giovanni asked. "I will have you know, that I really have done by PhD in Pokemon evolutionary biology and those theories I told you were actually my own."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Here's a word of advice," Giovanni said. "Whenever you want to disguise yourself, make sure that it's a role that you can play convincingly. And the only roles that you can play convincingly are those that you are. Don't disguise yourself as a nurse, or a waiter, unless you really are one. It's a problem I see with all the new Rocket grunts who don't know how to maintain cover properly."

"So… what's the next job?" Ash asked.

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Giovanni asked.

"What's the next mission?" Ash asked.

"Oh, please, Ash, I think you've already accomplished enough for now. You're just thirteen right now, you need to go around and start enjoying yourself at this point of time," Giovanni said. "Yes, you'll grow up to be a leader of Team Rocket, but there are several years- or ideally, decades before that will ever happen. I sure wouldn't want you to end up like Silver. I gave him full control of a legion and look at how he's turning out- oh, he's doing his work fine but he's developed some extracurricular activities on the side. Did you know that he's decided to go and collect the Johto gym badges? Apparently he thinks he's managed to do it secretly without me knowing, but I suppose ignorance has always been bliss."

"The Kanto and Johto league are together now, huh?" Ash asked.

"Yes, I don't know what's gotten into them," Giovanni said. "Who knows Ash, perhaps if you go far enough you'll face Silver one day. That said, I don't think that there will be many more missions for you- I was pleasantly surprised that you managed to get through these many this far. And speaking of extracurricular activities, what hobbies do you have Ash? I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to know you too well, but I mean to say that while Pokemon battling is fine and all, surely there's something else you want to do? If nothing, just in case you ever need to disguise yourself."

"Well, there's skateboarding," Ash said.

"Oh well, you might find a talent in time. Like perhaps Coding or something along those lines. Something useful...but with that said, I do happen to have two pieces of advice for you. The first is that you and your friends should stay away from the _S. S. Anne_ as is possible."

"The cruise ship at Vermillion City?" Ash asked.

"The very one," Giovanni said. "We're pulling a large operation on that cruise liner, and it would be best if you don't get caught in the crossfire. As long as you aren't on the ship, no one will ever be able to blame you for not stopping what will happen. And my second piece of advice is regarding your Frogadier, the one that I gifted you. How have the two of you been getting along?"

"Pretty good, why?" Ash asked.

"Well, the thing is that Frogadier is very important- and not only for its rumored special power. I was looking for a Froakie from the very beginning for you," Giovanni said.

"Why?" Ash asked.

"Well then, Ash, I know very well that you've managed to get your hands on a Charmander. And while I'm very well aware that it's every boy's dream to soar the skies on a Charizard, do be sure to take very good care of your Frogadier," Giovanni said. "Whatever I said in the tunnel, Ash, wasn't just nonsense for you to take in one year and out the other. I've already told you that Poison type Pokemon somehow, someway, a few million years ago became kings of Kanto, but there is more to the story than that, and something that is very important for you to understand. Somewhere along the line, about the same time that humans began to walk the earth, a new type of Pokemon called the Psychic type appeared. And they were able to brutally challenge any and all Poison types that stood in their way. I once fought a Trainer who used only Psychic type Pokemon and I was defeated… I didn't stand a chance. The only things that can stand up to the Psychic type, or at least the only ones within Kanto, are Ghost types, but they too are Poison types and have a weakness to Psychic types. And that's where our story gets interesting and goes to the emergence of the Steel and Dark types- which emerged almost exactly at the same time. They have a single thing in common- resistance to Psychic attacks. But it is impossible to find a Dark type Pokemon native to Kanto, and as such, even until this day, you will see that Psychich Pokemon dominate competitive battling here within Kanto."

"So, you gave me Froakie since you thought it would help me beat Psychic Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Not any kind of Psychic Pokemon," Giovanni said. His face then turned hard as he said, "There is a certain… _enemy_ and a Dark type would be extremely useful in case the time ever comes- though I think it is unlikely- that you'll have to face it."

"Huh?" Ash asked. "What kind of-" Ash paused and whipped his head around- Misty and Serena were fast approaching.

And Brock was not far behind.

"Hey," Misty said. "Did you just sit here Ash while we did all the work?" She dumped a large bundle of firewood on the ground.

"Uh, well-" Ash said.

"Truth be told, Ash and I got talking and we were so caught up in it that we completely forgot," Giovanni said, rubbing the back of his neck and appearing far more jovial than he normally was. "It appears we really made a mistake there Ash, looks like we'll have to do something to make up for it, huh?"

"Nah, it's okay," Misty sighed.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. On a side note, I wasn't sure what sort of side job you might take up in the Pokemon Universe given that there's so few really.**

 **Do review if you liked!**


	15. A Gyarados-Sized Misunderstanding

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Thrakon Deus, nice to know you liked that- I was afraid that it might have gotten boring. Yami-chan and Unrealistic, yeah, well Ash has been complacent but mostly because he hasn't been asked to do anything serious yet.**

"Well, I have to admit that this really good," Giovanni said as he tasted what Brock had made. "Have you ever thought of a career as a gourmet chef?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Brock said, but Ash could tell that Brock was pleased. Ash bit in and had to say that he agreed though- Brock's cooking was always good, but Brock had outdone himself this time.

"Do you hear that?" Serena asked. There was a roar somewhere that was only getting louder.

"It's coming closer," Giovanni said and put his plate aside for the moment just as someone on a motorcycle came in.

The guy riding it was easily twice as tall as Ash and probably weighed three times as much.

"Heh heh, havin' a good time kids?" he asked in a rough voice.

"Who're you?" Brock asked.

"That's not a question some schoolkiddies and their teacher should be concerned with," the guy said.

"Teacher?" Giovanni asked before he looked down at his white coat. "Well, you see that's not exactly accur-"

"Shuddup!" the guy said. "I'll get to the point real quick here, you look like people with a lotta cash on hand. I'll be takin' it and any Pokemon you got."

"You don't know who you're trying to mug, do you?" Brock said as he put his spatula down and picked up a Poke Ball.

"And you don't know who you're messin' with," the guy said. "D'ya know who I am? I'm with Team Rocket!"

The guy clearly expected for the group to be terrified by this, but Ash and Giovanni were unfazed and the others didn't seem to care particularly etiher.

"Well, if we gotta do dis the hard way," the guy said, releasing a Koffing.

Ash got up, but there was no need as Serena sent out here Fennekin and defeated the Koffing about as easily as Ash would breathe.

And for the icing on the cake, her Fennekin evolved into to a Braixen after the battle.

"Aw, great!" Serena said.

The guy looked devastated. Having been defeated by a thirteen year-old girl couldn't have possibly been good for his image and he turned around and ran away.

Ash could swear he saw the guy crying while leaving.

"Well, that was frightening, " Giovanni said, expertly feigning an aura of concern.

Ash wasn't exactly sure what had happened but he had a good guess: the guy was a random nobody who had joined Team Rocket. He didn't recognize Giovanni probably because not everyone in Team Rocket knew who the boss was, which was probably a smart move now that Ash thought about it. Ash started smiling as he thought about it- the poor guy hadn't stood a chance.

"We should eat and leave," Giovanni said. "Quickly, if possible. It's occurred to me that that man might have friends that he can count on and we wouldn't want them to find us."

"We can take them," Serena said and her Braixen nodded in agreement. "But I guess we should probably move out…"

* * *

Meowth groaned as Jessie unceremoniously slapped a swab of cotton with disinfectant on the scratches on his face.

"Hey! Easy there!" Meowth groaned.

"Stop complaining," Jessie said. "You're not the only one who's injured here, you pussy cat."

The trio had landed somewhere near a lake east of Vermillion City. Their balloon was torn up and all of them had minor injuries that needed to be tending too after their encounter with the Vermillion City Gym. Well, most of them were minor, except for a rather deep gash that James had received on his left arm.

"Y'know, I'm not usually one to complain," Meowth began and Jessie and James both rolled their eyes. "But at this point in my life, I thought I'd be up and doin' a bit more important things, ya know? Rather than gettin' beat up just for the show of it."

"Oh, quit complaining," James said. "We have one of the best jobs around- do you think it's a small matter to be entrusted with the boss' kid?"

"Seriously, Meowth, this isn't fun for anyone," Jessie said. "I have mud in my hair and these clothes were not cheap. But we all have to suck it up and deal with it. But the one who's complaining the most about this is you. Seriously, you're the most unlikeable person in our trio."

"Oh yeah?" Meowth asked. "Hey James… if you had to be stranded on a deserted island with either one of us, who would it be?"

"Meowth of course," James said.

"What do you mean by 'of course?'" Jessie demanded.

"Yes, see, on a deserted island clearly the most important thing is food," James said. "And obviously if Jessie is around than that means that she'll hog away any remaining food, while with Meowth, he'll act like a backup food supply himself."

James was duly rewarded with this statement by being scratched by Meowth and punched by Jessie.

"With all this outta da way," Meowth said. "We need to figure out a way to fix our balloon and our gear. A lot of it's been totaled in our fall."

"Yes, we'll get disguised and be on it," James said wearily.

Meowth sighed as he gazed up at the big blue sky above him. "Seriously… we used to be one of the most feared robber teams all around. And here we are- being paid to lose over and over again."

"And we're being paid three times what we used to get for it," Jessie snorted. "And you're being incredibly short-sighted Meowth- remember, we'd be far more likely to move up with the boss if we take care of his kid. And eventually, after all, Ash is going to be the one to take over Team Rocket and when he does, we'll be his right-hand team! We could be the next beasts of Team Rocket!"

"Well, I gotta say that at the least I admire the kid," Meowth said. "He has some spunk in him. Specially his Pikachu- I mean refusing to evolve? Now that's not somethin' ya see every day."

"Yes, but I don't know where he is," James said. "We crashed here yesterday and everything that we had got scattered around. I found our tracer but one of the batteries seem to be missing."

"So on to the nearest store it is then," Jessie said. "We should stay away from Vermillion City as far as possible as we were just seen there and they'll be looking for us, but I heard there's a small town here where we might find what we're looking for."

"So what disguise are we using this time?" James asked.

"Which one of our costumes aren't ruined?" Jessie asked.

"There's the clown ones," James said. "But we're trying _not_ to draw attention to ourselves."

"I guess it's the business suits then," Jessie said. "But we look like a bunch of door-to-door salesman in them. People try throwing things at me before I even get close..."

Their journey was mostly uneventful except for when James noticed a man opening a stall near the side of the road. James would've ignored him, but the guy called out to James and he stopped as the other two marched onwards.

Jessie and Mewoth ignored James as they assumed he was following them and had just fallen behind momentarily and so didn't notice the chatter going on between the two.

"Hey there lad," the man said. "You look like a brilliant fine businessman."

"Who me?" James asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and do you know what would be terrible? If you were to go and lose out on this business opportunity here," the man said. "You see, what I have right here is a firs-rate Pokemon called a Magikarp."

James snorted. "Seriously a Magikarp? Those things couldn't fight their ways out of a paper bag."

"Oh, but I'm not trying to sell you this for battling," the man said. "Now, listen here: A Magikarp might be useless, but they lay eggs faster than you say splash! Now, each Magikarp can lay over a thousand eggs, and you can sell each of those eggs, but wait there's more, you can use those thousand eggs and sell them each too. Soon enough, you'll have enough money to buy your own island."

"Oh…" James murmured as he imagined himself sitting on a mountain of gold and laughing.

"And this can all be yours for the small price of... _fifty thousand Pokedollars_ ," the man said.

"What?" James asked. "That's far too much!"

"Oh come now," the man said. "You can always sell it to someone else for the same amount in case this doesn't pan out and you can sell each of the eggs for this much. Think about all the money you'll make. And if you don't like it you can always get a refund later."

"Deal!" James said and handed over all of savings for a Pokeball.

"Alrighty then," James said, releasing the Magikarp to see that it was, indeed, a Magikarp.

He then saw that he had fallen far behind both Jessie and Meowth.

They were waiting for him a few minutes ahead.

"Where were ya?" Meowth asked.

James told them about everything that had happened.

Jessie and Meowth looked at each other for five seconds before bursting into fits of laughter.

"Oh… I can't believe it," Meowth said.

"I thought it was a joke but look at his face! He actually fell for it!" Jessie said.

"For what?" James asked.

"Oh, you don't get it yet, do ya?" Meowth asked, brushing dirt off of himself. "You've been conned like a four-year-old who was born yesterday!"

"That sentence doesn't even make sense and I agree with you," Jessie said.

"Con?" James said. "Pfft. The two of you are only jealous that I'll be getting all the profits!"

"He still doesn't see it!" Jessie said and both Meowth and her fell into fits of laughter again. "Listen, James," Jessie said once she found she could breathe again, "don't you remember when you were studying economics in college?"

"You went to college?" Meowth asked, surprised.

"Only for a semester since my parents threatened to kick me out if I didn't," James said.

"And didn't you make a research project on Ponzi schemes?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, but I never actually read for it and just paid someone else to do it," James said, waving his hand dismissively. "I mean, that was years ago. Why're you brining it up now?"

"Oh, the irony," Meowth said. "If I was on Twitter, I'd be tweeting this to all the grunts back at HQ right now."

"James, the whole thing'll only work if people agree to buy your Magikarps from you," Jessie said. "And that will involve finding a bigger chump than yourself, which, I'm convinced is a near-impossible task right now. Plus, you can buy a dozen Magikarp in a fish market for ten Pokedollars."

"And even more than that," Meowth said. "Just tell me one thing genius… how is that Magikarp gonna lay any eggs? You only have one of them."

And it was then that it dawned on James. And it was then that he nearly burst from all of his rage.

"If only all of Team Rocket could hear about this now," Meowth said. "One of Team Rocket's highest ranking members- conned!"

"Wait, I'll just get a refund!" James said.

"James, he'll have gone miles once you accepted his deal," Jessie said.

* * *

Long story short, the guy was nowhere to be found.

On the plus side though, while James had been completely humiliated- a fact not made better by Jessie and Meowth constantly rubbing it in over the next ten minutes, they did manage to find batteries and everything else they needed.

"All set then," Meowth said as they returned to where their balloon had crashed. He then frowned as he checked the transmitter. "Uh.. guys, I think we have a problem…"

"What now?" James asked. "What cruel trick does the universe want to play upon me during my current state?"

"Ash ain't where we thought he was," Meowth said.

"Are you sure it isn't broken?" Jessie asked.

"Positive as I can be," Meowth said.

James stopped sobbing to get a better look at the map. "Why is he somewhere near Pewter City? He should still be hanging out by Vermillion City right now." This was a big deal- while Team Rocket couldn't follow Ash around in Vermillion City anymore, it would be safe for Ash there especially as he was with two gym leaders and with Selena. However, almost anything could happen in the wilderness though, and they were currently miles away from where Ash was.

"Well, no time for us to question that," Jessie said. "He's moved, and we need to move too if we're going to get to him in time."

Even Meowth didn't dally as they got their balloon ready- complain as he might, he wasn't stupid enough to stand around as they lost track of Ash.

They were in such a rush with all of this that they didn't even bother to fix any of the other equipment they had and left it all as is for the time being. And so, they were sadly unaware of the fact that Giovanni had dropped them a mail saying that he was with Ash and would be traveling towards Pewter City.

"The dot's movin'" Meowth said. "Ash's in Pewter City right now."

"That's good, it's safer than the middle of the woods," Jessie said.

"Yes, but why did he suddenly just turn back?" James asked. "Diglett Tunnel might be a shortcut back to Pewter City instead of trekking back to Cerulean City and then to Mt. Moon, but why go back in the first place?"

"How should I know?" Meowth asked.

They landed near the outskirts of the city. They hadn't been spotted here so they were relatively safe and secure while sneaking around to where Ash was supposed to be.

"The museum?" James wondered. "What's he doing in there?"

"How should I know?" Meowth repeated.

"Let's take a peek through the windows," Jessie said.

Only problem was that there was a lake to the left side of the building, and another large building to the right of it.

"We'll have to swim across," Meowth said. He then snickered. "Unless James wants to take a ride on his Magikarp across."

"It can do that?" James wondered, not realizing that Meowth was messing with him and released the Magikarp. It just flailed about wildly.

Both Jessie and Meowth burst into giggles again.

"I thought the joke would get old," Meowth said. "But it just doesn't!"

James, now thoroughly pissed, kicked the Magikarp into the water, screaming, "Useless Pokemon!"

It was then that a funny thing began to happen… the water seemed to glow as if there was something inside it. All of sudden, the water in the pond began to overflow, as if there was something large inside which had displaced all the water.

And from the surface rose a creature that was taller than four James stacked together.

Jessie and Meowth instantly stopped laughing- their faces now reflecting pure terror.

It was a Gyarados. And it looked even more pissed than James was.

Jessie and Meowth hid behind James. "Hey James, you're it's master, right?" Jessie said. "Get it to obey you."

"Alright, listen up Gyarados, I am your master," James said.

James had seen a lot of Pokemon that were angry in his life, but he didn't think he had ever seen a Pokemon that was _absolutely livid_. He tried returning Gyarados back to its Poke Ball, but the Poke Ball slipped out of his hand and fell into the water.

James barely dodged the Hyper Beam that Gyarados sent at him.

* * *

"Well, I can't thank you enough for bringing me all the way here," Giovanni said.

They had managed to reach the museum without any further incident and without any more father-son bonding time, not that there had been much of it in the first place.

Now, before all of them could put on their fake smiles and say that it was no problem at all, they felt the ground shake. And it happened again. And there was a loud roar from the outside.

"What is that?" Serena asked.

"Let's check it out," Ash said.

Outside, the five of them saw a huge blue Pokemon shooting Hydro Pumps at some screaming people… who were Team Rocket.

"What in the blazes?" Giovanni wondered as he saw the scene unfold before him.

"They must've come here to steal… uh, something," Misty said. "Is there something valuable in the museum?"

"Some of the exhibits are worth a lot to some private collectors," Giovanni said. "But I have not sent out ord- I mean, I can't believe that they would stoop to such lengths!"

No one noticed the lapse that Giovanni had made in maintaining his cover since thankfully they were far too busy thinking of a way to stop the Gyarados rampaging in front of them.

"It's alright," Ash said. "We'll handle this."

Ash was, of course, in the mistaken and very false belief that this was another staged battle by Jessie and James and that his dad was probably in on it somehow. He released his Frogadier and Pikachu.

"Pikachu! Hit it with a Thunderbolt!" Ash said.

Now, Ash might not have been aware of this at the moment, but Gyarados having a quadruple weakness to Electric type moves meant that this already formidable attack dealt massive damage to the Gyarados. Not enough to defeat it, mind you, but enough for it to completely divert its attention from Jessie and James and focus on Ash.

Ash wasn't scared though- though he should have been and it was as he was about to order another attack that Giovanni suddenly grabbed him and told all his friends to get out of the way.

They were so stunned they barely managed to follow his directions as the Gyarados unleashed a full power Hyper Beam.

It was a good thing that Giovanni had pulled Ash out of the way- that Hyper Beam had blasted a hole straight through the museum and even damaged the building on the side of it a bit. If Ash had stayed to fight and if Pikachu's Thunderbolt was not enough to take the Gyarados out in another hit, Ash would have been blown to smithereens.

At that point, Jessie and James had had enough of a reprieve from the attacks to notice who had saved them.

"That's Ash?" James said. "What on earth is he doing fighting that thing instead of running…" He abruptly stopped talking as what was happening quickly registered with him. "He thinks this is a staged fight!"

"And is that…" Jessie said, rubbing her eyes. "Is that the Boss!"

It dawned on the three of them that they had managed to royally mess up somehow, but there were more pressing concerns at the moment.

"Are you alright?" Giovanni asked a dazed Ash, who turned around and saw that his friends were alright.

"Yeah… thank you," Ash said, a bit shaken and he stopped as he noticed that the Hyper Beam had grazed his dad's shoulder. He wasn't an expert, but the wound looked deep and blood was trickling all over Giovanni's right arm and right hand.

"I know this is scary, but you need to take the Gyarados out now," Giovanni said, clutching his shoulder. "While it recharges!"

"Thunderbolt!" Ash said numbly.

The attack was powerful, but not enough to wipe Gyarados out. Giovanni _had_ been right to pull Ash out of the way at that time.

Frogadier finished the Gyarados off though with a simple attack and when it crashed into the ground there was a huge thud.

James managed to fish out the Pokeball and withdraw Gyarados before he and Jessie scampered off before anyone tried to pursue them.

"We need to get you to a hospital," Serena said.

"Ugh… yeah," Giovanni said. His face was contorted in pain and he fell to the ground. "I don't think the wound's too deep, but it probably caused a few burns and it hurts like hell." He saw Ash's guilty face. "Don't worry about it… this is better than one of us having their head blown off. It was nothing."

"Yeah, but Ash would be… would be… if you hadn't… in time…" Misty trailed off, seemingly unable to say it and held back a sob.

"It was nothing, truly," Giovanni said. It was then that the fury returned to his features. "But Team Rocket… someone is going to have to give them a talking-to!"

"Yeah," Brock, Misty, and Serena said all at once.

"Well, the damage has been done," Giovanni said. "I don't think that they'll be back any time soon."

Brock released his Onix, it was the only Pokemon they all had on hand which was capable of transporting a fully grown man. "Come on, I know where the hospital is," Brock said.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading guys. One thing- I'm not really sure how money in the Pokemon World works and just how much fifty thousand Pokedollars is supposed to be. If we take it literally be yen, then it would be around five hundred dollars, which depending on where you are isn't much or might be too much... eh, I kind of just winged that number out of nowhere.  
**

 **Alternate Lines:**

Back at Team Rocket headquarters, the grunts were busy on their usual work. It was a lunch break though, and one of them decided to check his Rocketbook account- a social media site exclusively for Team Rocket members.

"Huh," the grunt said. "Meowth posted…" He then started cracking up. "Hey guys! Get a load of this! James got conned into paying fifty grand for a Magikarp!"

His friend- who was busy munching on sushi made from a Magikarp which he had bought for about ten Pokedollars- nearly choked on it as he started laughing.

Pretty soon, it was the talk of the entire base.

 **Even More Alternate Lines:**

"Hey James," Meowth said. "I heard that a Rhydon's brain is so small that it starts running and then forgets why it started."

"Well, at least it doesn't buy a Magikarp for fifty grand!" Jessie said and the two of them started giggling again.

 **Even More More Alternate Lines:**

"You just gave away fifty grand for a Magikarp," Jessie said.

"This has been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever," James said.

 **Even More More of More Alternate Lines:**

The biker looked as his beaten up Koffing and said, "Look what you did to my Pokemon! It's gonna take like a thousand mommy kisses to make it better!"

 **More of Even More More of More Alternate Lines:**

"Hey, don't worry," Ash said as he saw his bleeding dad. "I'll just put you in a Pokeball and we'll take you to the Pokemon Center ASAP."


	16. A Father-Son Moment

**A/N: Thanks for the input. If you're wondering that Giovanni sounded like he was really interested in the stuff, well, there's a small secret to that- he did. Nice to see that you enjoyed it.**

Ash had never been in a human hospital. That is, in no instance did he remember being in one. Of course he was born in one and would've gone for check-ups, but those were far away in his forgotten memories.

Something about it felt weird- as if it was somewhat less comforting than being at a Pokemon Center. Perhaps because Ash knew that some of the people here wouldn't be able to get better.

His dad was still in the operation theater. He had passed out a few minutes before they had reached the hospital- it had been quite a scene when a huge Onyx suddenly burst in through the front door of the hospital.

They had agreed to stick around in shifts in case something came up. Only thing was that Ash refused to budge even for a little while. Even Pikachu was getting a little concerned.

"Still not moving an inch?" Misty asked as she made here way to sit next to Ash. Selena and Brock had been there before her, but the two of them had probably gone to get lunch.

"Nah," Ash said. He suddenly felt odd- as if he could see colors more vividly now. And no matter how hard he tried not to, he just couldn't help but imagine his head being blasted off by that Gyarados.

"Well, I'm not gonna try to get you to leave," Misty said. "I know how stubborn you can be."

Silence remained between the two for fifteen whole minutes when Misty spoke up.

"Hey Ash," Misty said. "Is it alright if I ask you something?"

"What?" Ash asked.

"Don't you think that there's something weird about Team Rocket?" Misty asked.

"Well, there's definitely stuff wrong with them… but weird?" Ash asked.

"No, I don't mean the whole organization, I mean Jessie, James, and Meowth," Misty said. Ash didn't say anything so Misty continued. "See.. the more that I think about it, the less that it seems to make sense. Just why have they been following us for so long?"

"To steal Pikachu, I guess," Ash said.

"Yeah, and that's what makes no sense at all," Misty said. "First of all, Pikachu isn't exactly all that valuable."

"Pika pii pii pika pii pi," Pikachu said angrily in protest.

"Oh, Pikachu, I didn't mean it like that," Misty said while petting his head. "Of course you mean the world to us, but someone else is only going to pay a fixed price for a Pikachu on the black market, and I can't imagine it being much. They are rare, but not as rare as you might think and can be found in the Viridian Forest."

"Still, I guess they might be obsessed with it for some reason," Ash said.

"And _that's_ where it makes even less sense," Misty said. "Why? I mean, if I were a thief, my M.O. would be to go after the weakest target- you know, a thief steals what's valuable and which is easy to steal. Trying to take Pikachu from us is way to risky with two gym leaders with you, and you're not too shabby yourself and neither is she. So why tail us? There must be plenty of other people to steal from and they'd have far more valuable stuff like gold or jewelry which they could get far easier than trying to mess with us all the time. And it gets even weirder when you start wondering who's paying them for this. See, they must have a boss, right? I mean, the Pokemon League's spent a long time trying to track him-"

"Or her," Ash said, interrupting Misty. "The boss _could_ be a lady."

"Or her, whatever," Misty said. "I was tasked with trying to find him once but no gym leader's been successful. But putting that bit aside, all of the stuff that Team Rocket keeps using must cost stuff, right? Last I check hot air balloons don't exactly come cheap. Not to mention when you factor in that they have to get food from somewhere, well, I don't think that they'd ever be able to recover even a tenth of the cost of what they've spent trying to follow us if they even did manage to catch Pikachu right now. So why on earth are they still trying? If I was their boss I would've fired them long ago or told them to do something that's gonna pay the bills rather than go after something they clearly haven't been able to do."

Now, Ash wasn't exactly sure how to play this. One way would be to just simply turn it into a sort of a joke and say something like, 'Hey Misty! You really are good are thinking like a criminal- maybe _you're_ the boss of Team Rocket!'

Or, he could try to assuage her fears somehow. He decided to stall for time by asking, "Do Brock and Serena think the same as well?"

"I haven't exactly shared the idea with them," Misty said. "But y'know, I thought that it really doesn't mean anything but the more I think about it, the more I think I must be right. I just want to see what you think about it first."

Ash had to admit that he was pretty surprised that Misty chose to share this with him of all people- if you wanted to discuss something intellectual either Brock or Serena would've been a far better bet in his own opinion.

Ash scratched his chin, pretending to think about it for a while. "You know, it does seem sort of fishy," Ash said.

"I know right!" Misty exclaimed. "So then what is it supposed to mean?"

Ash looked down at his Pikachu who had suddenly started sweating despite the fact that the place was air-conditioned. At least Ash felt like he was maintaining his composure a bit better than that, though he felt his hands tremble slightly for some reason.

"Well, I can only think of one reason," Ash said desperately. "They must be spying on us!"

"Spying on us?" Misty wondered. "Why would they do that?"

"Maybe because you and Brock are gym leaders," Ash said. "Maybe they think that they can find some of the Pokemon League's secrets if they follow you two around." It was the best thing that he could come up with at the time.

"Well, that does kind of make sense," Misty sighed inwardly.

"But you know what, it's best if we don't say anything to Brock and Serena," Ash said. "They'll probably just think that we're being paranoid."

"Huh, ya really think so?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, I really feel like that," Ash said. "Until we see some more evidence, that is."

It was then that they were interrupted by a nurse who said, "Professor Gorger-I'm sorry, I mean, Professor Gregor is stable right now. He's just coming out of anesthesia in case you want to meet him but-"

Ash forgot all about their conversation and moved as quickly as he dared towards where his father was.

His father had opened his eyes and was taking in the world. His shoulder was bandaged and he didn't look quite so pale anymore.

Ash could make out his father saying a few words but all he caught was the word 'Moo-too' a few times which really didn't make much sense to him.

"Oh, he's probably just a bit dazed," the attending doctor explained. ""It was a good thing that you got him here when you did. He should eventually regain full functionality of his arm, but it may take a few months before that happens. It'll probably take him a few hours to come back to his senses- he'll probably go to sleep after the gas wears off. You can come back then."

Once Ash was reassured that his dad would be alright, he guessed it would be okay to go and hang out and see what the others were doing.

He felt much better now and there was a skip in his step as they made their way to the canteen.

"Wow, you really cared about Professor Gregor, didn't you?" Misty asked.

"Yeah," Ash said. Ash knew that the others probably thought it was thanks to what Professor Gregor had done for him.

Ash delivered the news to Serena and Brock himself.

"That's great!" Serena said.

"Yeah, good news," Brock said.

Within minutes the mood lightened up and they were mostly standing around joking just like normal friends would.

Through this Ash was exceptionally glad that Misty didn't bring up the earlier topic again- it meant that he had managed to successfully diffuse that landmine, at least for now. But Jessie and James probably wouldn't be trying anything very soon if they didn't want to be discovered, that was of course considering if his dad let them back on the job.

But then his smile fell as it got him wondering- how long could they possibly keep this up? It was only a matter of time before both Brock and Serena began thinking on the same lines as Misty was.

And, as Ash saw his friends he seemed to appreciate, for the first time, fully the magnitude of how much he had deceived them- and for how much longer he was going to have to.

And it felt immensely wrong. These were his friends- and in this short duration their bonds hand grown, and, no matter how cliché it might sound, he knew deep down that he would do anything for them in case they were ever in trouble.

So how could he keep deceiving them like this? Not to mention just how long was this whole charade going to last? Would he continue even after if- no, not if, Ash thought- _when_ he would become the Pokemon League Champion?

It wasn't the first time that such thoughts had come to him, but at the moment the regret from all that he had done seemed to overflow within him and he just had to make it right somehow.

"Hey guys, there's something that I want to tell you," Ash said.

Brock and Misty still had huge grins on their faces but Serena's face fell as she realized that there was something wrong with Ash.

But as Ash opened his mouth he couldn't help but remember his dad and all that he had done for Ash, even though they had met so few times. Ash was not sure about a lot of things, but he was definitely sure that his father was a good person, even if he didn't fully understand why he did what he did.

'Maybe it's one of those things that I'm too young to understand or something,' Ash thought. Regardless, he knew that now was not the time.

"What is it Ash?" Serena asked.

"I just wanted to say thank you for agreeing to come all this was with Professor Gregor. I knew you guys didn't really want to," Ash said.

"Aww, come on, you can't still be on about that," Mist said. "On retrospect, this has turned out to be a lot of fun."

"Yeah," Serena and Brock said simultaneously. "I mean, not the part where you almost got hurt but you know…"

Ash felt far more relaxed after that, but somewhere in the back of his head, he couldn't help but dwell on the question as to what he would do eventually.

* * *

His dad wasn't wake yet as nighttime approached and so with all of them exhausted they decided to hit the hay and maybe visit him in the morning.

All of them except Ash though, who decided to sneak out to visit his dad. It was pretty late at night and past visiting hours but he made his way through. His dad, thankfully, was awake at the moment and was perusing a newspaper.

"Oh," Giovanni said, surprised that Ash was there.

"I snuck out to see you," Ash said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

They shared a brief hug- Giovanni seemed a lot more jovial than usual. Perhaps it was thanks to being with Ash, or maybe it was just a side effect of all the painkillers he was on.

"Well, I've been better," Giovanni said. "But I'm fine now. It's great that you came right now, because I'll have to leave now."

"What?" Ash asked. "They're discharging you?"

"No," Giovanni said. "But I cannot stay here much longer. Questions are going to be raised. I don't doubt that an Officer Jenny will soon be paying me a visit. I have to leave- don't worry, I have doctors as good as any here. I will be gone by the time the sun come up."

"Oh," Ash said.

"It was nice to see you though, and to see that you're growing up every bit as I would have wanted you to," Giovanni said. "I'm sure that your mother is very proud of you."

"Uh, dad, what's Moo-too?" Ash asked.

"What?" Giovanni asked.

"I don't know, you were just saying that when you came out of anesthesia," Ash said.

Giovanni's face hardened. "I was unaware that I had said that name aloud, I must be more careful. I was talking about the Pokemon, Mewtwo."

"Huh?" Ash asked.

"It's a long story," Giovanni said. "Suffice it to say that during my research expeditions I managed to find Mew a long time ago. But while it was powerful, it had the temperament of a child and was not as powerful as I would have liked. And so I had an idea- a crazy idea- or at least, now, in retrospect, I realize. I cloned it, but not really, I wanted to create the perfect Pokemon. A Pokemon that would be unbeatable. And so I mutated the genes and began forming a recombinant Pokemon- one that the world had never seen before. But it was not enough for me for it to be the most powerful- no, I had to circumvent Mew's inherently pacifist nature. I… don't get me wrong, I loved my new creation. But I was harsh on it, I was harsh on it to make it angry, to make it into a machine that would destroy on command. I withheld all resemblance to love or compassion from it. And so we thought that we had succeeded an initially our results were more than exhilarating…"

"Wait, why did you call it Mewtwo?" Ash asked.

"As in, the second form of Mew?" Giovanni stated as if that should have been obvious.

"Wait… you mean like Mew and then 'two' as in the second?" Ash asked. "That is a pretty lame name."

"Well, that hardly matters now," Giovanni said. "I thought that the results were extremely promising, Ash, but it turns out that I had pushed Mewtwo too far. It wouldn't obey orders and was extremely dangerous to be left alone. We made plans to create a sort of device to contain it, but before we could there was a freak accident on one of our labs on Cinnabar Island where Mewtwo was contained. We lost many of our operatives and till date I have no idea why it occurred. It was difficult enough trying to cover it up from the authorities, but the funny part was that I never found Mewtwo's body- I wanted it in case I wished to create another, or simply to hide its presence in case someone randomly chanced upon it. I searched around and after a while of detecting nothing we assumed that its body must have been lost forever within the depths of the ocean- or had become completely charred within the explosion. Oddly enough, when I was coming out of anesthesia I felt odd- and then it was as if I could, for a moment, see Mewtwo right before me…"

"It was probably a hallucination," Ash said. "People get those when they come out of anesthesia, right?"

"Perhaps," Giovanni said. "The only thing is that it felt so real at that moment…"

"But, didn't you try to make another?" Ash asked.

"What?" Giovanni asked.

"I mean, another Mewtwo," Ash said. "Or maybe you'd call it Mewthree?"

"No, I scrapped all plans for the project and anyway, Mew was also destroyed in the explosion and so were all the cells we had harvested from it," Giovanni said. "And with Mewtwo gone as well, there are no cells or building blocks from which I could try to make another Mewtwo even if I wanted to."

"Oh," Ash said.

Giovanni then started to get up. "I'll be leaving in a few hours. The night shift is when they're the most lax with things…"

"Need any help?" Ash asked.

"No," Giovanni said. "If I wasn't capable of escaping from a hospital, I would not be in the current position that I am. Most likely I'll head on over to Viridian City and my gym again."

"Oh," Ash said. "Hey dad- one question- why didya become a gym leader in the first place?"

"My father ran the Viridian City Gym before I did," Giovanni said. "It was important to him and I wanted to keep it as a reminder of my legacy. Not to mention I do get certain perks including an inside look into the workings of the Pokemon League."

"But back in Viridian City I heard that the gym had been empty for months," Ash said. "Do they really just let you leave it for months like that?"

"They shouldn't," Giovanni said. "But I've paid them enough to keep their mouths shut."

"Paid them?" Ash asked.

"The League has to get its money from somewhere," Giovanni said. "A lot of it is from hosting the Pokemon League and the sponsors they get, but they also have other ways to get money. How do you think they can pay for universal healthcare for all registered Pokemon trainers? There are a total of fifteen official Pokemon League gyms in Kanto even though there should only be eight. Several of them- much like mine, were paid in hefty amounts for which is, I believe, the only reason they exist in the first place. Take the Cerulean City Gym- I heard that the gym leaders there virtually accept money for handing out their badges and a small fraction goes to the League."

"No one stops this?" Ash asked.

"It sounds unfair, and you're right- but you're forgetting that there are fifteen gyms. That means that only eight really need to be operational at any given time and usually ten are fully staffed. And it isn't as if all the gyms are like that- most gym leaders are people who got their positions based on merit and are paid small stipends for their services," Giovanni said. "But they don't mind having a few extra to bring in some cash. Not to mention even a few of the so-called 'meritorious' ones like your friend Brock have occasionally looked the other way- I don't see how else he's managed to raise so many siblings in relative comfort all by himself. Any gym, Ash, can be conquered easily enough as long as you can pay enough. As a matter of fact there's a school exclusively for people who can pay massive sums which allows students who have completed the course to battle in the League without collecting a single badge or leaving the safety of their school! As you can imagine, this is all highly unfair for anyone who isn't a millionaire. But it does give rise to some, well, I guess they would be called 'entrepreneurs' who sell Badges, though _that_ is strictly forbidden by the Pokemon League as your elder brother Silver can attest to..." Giovanni paused there and watched Ash intently, as if he was expecting him to say something at that moment. When there wasn't a reply, he continued, "So, while it isn't very widespread, it is possible to buy your way to the top. But no son of mine will be taking the easy way out, you can be assured of that." Giovanni smiled.

"Yeah, but… but why would anyone pay to be a gym leader?" Ash asked. It sounded like a pretty boring job to him.

"Oh, many reasons," Giovanni said. "In my case it is for the info that I get and because being a gym leader grants one several special privileges. I guess the Cerulean City Gym on the other hand has made it into a profitable business and they do get a free arena for their water shows, which I think make them more than the badges."

"And they never ask where you get your money from?" Ash asked.

Giovanni shrugged. "They don't care as long as their palms are greased. And if they raise too many questions regarding why I'm not there… well they also raise questions on their own activities. This is supposed to be a low-kept secret and not something they'd want to be bandied about throughout the world."

"Oh," Ash said. "So… this is it then? Or until I get the next mission?"

Giovanni smiled. "Great enthusiasm, Ash, but there will be no more missions. At least for now. I think you've already proven your worth- go ahead and enjoy yourself with your friends. We'll meet again, don't worry about it."

A nurse came in and Ash quickly ducked underneath the bed to avoid being spotted. While she was busy, he snuck out of the room, only giving his dad a last cursory glance to let him know that he would be missed.

 **A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading folks, and do please leave a review if you liked it.**

 **Alternate Lines:**

"Hey Misty- with all the thinking that you're doing, are you sure that you're not the leader of Team Rocket?" Ash asked, laughing.

Misty gave him a cold look and then said, "Ash... funny thing is you're right. I am the leader of Team Rocket."

She then peeled off her face to reveal that she was in fact, an Officer Jenny.

"Officer Jenny is the leader of Team Rocket?" Ash asked. "I'd never have known! It's the perfect crime!"


	17. An (Abandoned?) Village

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. As of now Ash's Frogadier is a Frogadier- I'm writing another fanfic in which he does have a Greninja and so I get confused sometimes. Sorry for that. As for the money bit, yeah, I think you're right, that's how much it would cost in-game but honestly 5 dollars isn't that much so I jacked up the price so it would put an actual dent in James' savings.**

Ash snuck over as quietly as he could towards where the others were sleeping. He wasn't overly worried about Brock- he could explain away almost anything to the guy but was concerned about what he'd say if he was found by Serena or Misty.

In the end he decided that his strategy, or at very least, the best one, would be to simply said that he had to go use the bathroom… but when he thought about it he realized that the rooms they had rented already had bathrooms and this made such an explanation seem very stupid.

Oh well, he was at the door and it was a bit too late to go back now. Thankfully Brock was sleeping and mumbling something about ketchup so that meant that Ash was safe on that front.

Ash didn't sleep for quite a while as he let the events of the day sink in, but sooner or later found himself drifting off.

A consequence of having slept late though, was that it was already nine in the morning and Ash was still asleep with Brock trying to wake him up.

"C'mon Ash, all of us are ready and have eaten breakfast already," Brock said. "And you haven't even gotten out of bed yet."

Ash moaned. His head felt heavy and he felt like doing nothing else besides shoving Brock aside and falling asleep again for the next three hours- or maybe the next three hundred years, he really didn't care. But he managed to force himself up somehow and got ready.

"So sleepyhead is finally up?" Misty asked as Ash wandered over to where she and Serena were sitting near the reception.

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Umm, excuse me," a nurse suddenly approached them. "But do you happen to know a Professor Gregor?"

"Yeah, we brought him in," Ash said. "What happened?"

"He's vanished," the nurse said. "We can't find him anywhere since this morning and he wasn't ready for discharge until a few days… have you see him?"

"We haven't seen him since last night," Serena said, very alarmed along with Brock and Misty.

And so, there was a frantic search throughout the hospital looking for him and an hour later Officer Jenny of all people arrived.

"Well, I came here expecting to hear about an accident but now I'm filing a missing persons report on top of that," Officer Jenny said.

"Do you think maybe Team Rocket could have kidnapped him?" Brock asked.

"I don't think so," Misty said. "I mean, it would be hard to take anyone away from the hospital against their will. There were people on night duty and Professor Gregor would have made a ruckus if someone tried to take him."

"And I haven't seen any signs of struggle near his bed," Officer Jenny said. "That would imply that he left the place willingly. But why?"

"Or maybe," Ash said, leaving a dramatic pause before adding, "he was just a figment of our imaginations all along and never really existed in the first place."

Brock, Serena, and Misty all looked at Ash as if wondering which psychiatrist they should take him to. "Okay, it was a bad joke," Ash said and everyone shook their heads.

To be fair though, even Ash wasn't expecting something as brazen as that to work.

"Well, we'll just have to be on the lookout then," Officer Jenny said.

"But he can't have gotten far," Ash said. "He must be in the area somewhere."

"You're right, don't worry- we'll be on this case as soon as we can be," Officer Jenny said. "And my Growlithe is rather good at tracking down scents." She released her Growlithe. "I'm willing to bet that his scent would be all over the bed he was in last tonight."

"Oh," Ash said. He was now getting worried- could this mean that his dad might be caught? Ash didn't think that it was likely, but still… "Well, if you need any help Officer Jenny, we'd love to help you find Professor Gregor."

"Right, well, good luck and stay safe for now, if I do need you I'll call," Officer Jenny said.

"What'd we do now?" Serena asked the others.

"Well, I don't see what we can do about it," Ash said. "I'm sure Officer Jenny will find him. Hey Brock- why don't we visit your dad and everyone else?"

"Eh?" Misty asked. "I was sure that you'd demand that we go and look for Professor Gregor ourselves…"

"Yeah," Serena agreed.

"Yeah, but we're not really people good at tracking are we?" Ash said. "Not to mention I get the feeling that Professor Gregor left on his own- I kind of agree with Officer Jenny on that front."

"Hmm," Misty said. She seemed to glare at Ash suspiciously for a second before saying, "All right I suppose you have a point."

Before heading off to visit Brock's folks though, they stopped by the museum just in case that Professor Gregor was there, but he was nowhere to be found.

Needless to say Brock's siblings were ecstatic when they saw Brock. His dad was away at the gym at the moment, but they were managing pretty fine by themselves for a while.

"Oh wow, your hair's so pretty," one of the girls- Ash couldn't remember her name (or any of the other's names for that matter) said.

"Oh, thanks," Serena said.

"And your outfit's cute too," another girl said. Serena soon had quite a crowd around her.

"And hey!" a boy said. "That's that loud mean boy and that angry girl we saw earlier!"

"Angry girl?" Misty asked. Ash was sure that he could hear the barely restrained anger in Misty's voice at that comment, but he didn't think anyone else did.

"C'mon guys," Brock said. "That's rude- and you both know that they're called Ash and Misty and they're my friends."

"Really? Have you been on a bunch of adventures together?" he asked.

"Yeah," Brock said. "A ton!"

They hung around till about noon. Ash noticed that the kids spent most of their time with Brock- which was understandable, or with Serena and they seemed to avoid both him and Misty, probably because they still viewed them as 'enemies' or something. Well, that, and Serena seemed far more welcoming and friendly than Misty- Ash had to admit that that was true almost any day of the week, and he personally wasn't really that good with kids either. He was thinking about… well, other things and he wasn't really trying to get along with them.

And try as she might, Misty wasn't much better and Ash overheard her muttering things like '…anyone can put on an outfit and then she think's she's all that…' and other stuff, and he could also feel some definite jealousy radiating from her.

At noon Brock's father arrived.

"Oh, ho, we have a lot of visitors today," Flint said. "So, Brock, what brings you here?"

Brock began telling Flint all about how Ash and the group had ended up back there, all the while Brock began preparing lunch for everyone with some of the special berries he still had leftover.

"So, did you meet Mr. and Mrs. Warttenheimer?" Flint asked.

"You remember them?" Brock asked.

"'Course I do, ever since you were little you'd talk about them and how you wanted to be like them. I don't forget stuff like that," Flint said. "Made sense that you'd go looking for them- you always wanted to. I remember that."

"Well, they weren't there," Brock said.

"Aww, that sucks," a kid, who Ash thought was named Forrest, said.

"It's alright," Brock said. "It isn't the end of the world."

It was then that Ash noticed something that he normally wouldn't have bothered paying any attention to- the house and what was in it. It dawned on him that it was a pretty nice place, spacious, and as far as he could tell none of Brock's siblings were sharing beds or were wearing hand-me-downs, and it was then that what his father had told him really hit him. Brock probably _had_ thrown a match or two- maybe even more, for money to afford this kind of lifestyle. Ash only needed to take one look at how much Brock cared for his sibling for him to realize that Brock would probably lose in a heartbeat if it meant that his brothers and sisters would be raised well.

But was that going to change how Ash saw Brock? Ash still knew Brock was the same person as always, but the knowledge that he had been involved in what was essentially corruption- even if everyone in the League was in on it, was something that did alter Ash's view of him, if only a little bit. But Ash didn't blame Brock though- he knew he'd probably have done the same thing if he was in Brock's shoes.

The food was delicious, of course, and then Brock said that it was time for him to go.

"Aww, not now," the children all shouted. "Stay! Stay!"

"Now, now," Brock said. "I've missed you all quite a lot, but I'll have to be leaving soon."

"You could at least stay the night, or even a couple o' days," Flint said. "I heard the Pokemon League's extended the deadline for Trainers to get their badges too, so that means you guys can relax a bit."

"Well, we wouldn't want to trouble you," Ash said. The house might have been big, but it was clearly strained with Flint and Brock's siblings and would be downright crowded if four more people joined in.

"It's nothing at all," Flint said. "Come on now, Brock, it'd mean a lot to your brothers and sisters if you'd stay the night at least."

"Yeah!" they all chorused in unison.

"Well," Brock said while looking at the others, who nodded. "All right then, we'll be here then."

Ash tried to involve himself a bit more now that lunch was over, and sent out his Charmander to show off a bit- and he realized that he had been right regarding what he thought about boys and Charizards as Charmander got a lot of attention.

Pikachu was also a favorite of the kids and didn't shock them when they pinched his cheeks, something that Ash was rather worried about but never happened.

Brock went outside with his brothers and sisters and they decided to join him. When Ash and Serena were at a distance from the others- who were wading in a small stream, Serena spoke up.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" Serena asked.

"What?" Ash asked as he saw his Pikachu trying to balance on a piece of cardboard placed on the waves but fell off on the time. What a ridiculous idea- a Pikachu surfing? Everyone knew that was impossible.

"Well, did something happen between you and Professor Gregor?" Serena asked.

"Why?" Ash asked, surprised.

"The thing is…" Serena said. "What you said about leaving it to the police… that was really not what I expected from you. And I think Misty and Brock know it too but they don't want to press you further… but seriously Ash, knowing you you'd probably have gone on public television and forced half the people in Pewter City to search for him if you thought Professor Gregor was in danger. _That's_ like the Ash I know…" and more softly to herself she added, "…and love."

"What?" Ash asked. He hadn't heard the last bit.

"Oh, oh, nothing," Serena said. "But Brock and Misty don't want to question you any further but I thought that well, you know Ash, there's something bothering you and I could tell that it's still bugging you. So I just wanna know- why'd you not go and search for Professor Gregor?"

Ash bit his lip. He had to think of something… but that needed time. He needed to stall. "Can you promise to not tell anyone else?"

"Yup," Serena said without hesitating. Wow, that did not stop her for more than a second.

"I… I think that Professor Gregor left on his own," Ash said. "Like I said back then- I was serious about that bit."

"What? But he hadn't finished his treatment!" Serena said.

"You see, I was starting to doubt him when we first met," Ash said. "And it grew as we traveled. Why…. Well, why didn't he wait for a police escort? Or contact the Pokemon League? He said he was in a hurry, but from how he acted later on I don't think that was true. I think that he didn't want the authorities looking closely into him. I can't prove it, but I have a hunch that he was involved in crime somehow and didn't want to be caught the net morning when Officer Jenny came. And if that's true, I know I might have helped him by letting him go- but after what he did for me, well, he didn't seem like a bad person so I thought that it would be okay just this once…"

Serena gasped. "Ash! Are you sure about that? How'd you know that well, you know… he was faking?"

"I'm not fully a hundred percent sure, but I'm pretty sure about it," Ash said. "I've never heard the name Professor Gregor before. I know all of the famous professors like Birch, Juniper, Sycamore, and Elm since Professor Oak would usually talk to them. I think that it was a fake identity and he didn't want to find out…. and it's just been that what's been bothering me all this time."

"Oh Ash," Serena said while placing her hand over his- it was an odd gesture which she hadn't done before but surprisingly, Ash didn't mind or move his hand away. "Why didn't you tell us then?"

"I… I wasn't sure, you know," Ash said. "And until I was sure what was the point in speaking up?"

"Well, I wanted to know," Serena said gently. "I mean, Ash, I'll be honest with you- there have been times when I've been with you where you seem to do the weirdest things… and I first thought it was just 'cuz you'd changed or something, but Brock and Misty seem to agree about it too as far as I can tell when it happens. Wait- is this why you wanted us to escort Professor Gregor in the first place? This was all your plan, wasn't it? Did you want to tail him to spy on him?"

"Uh… yeah, exactly, that's right," Ash said. "What can I say… when I suspect crime's happening, I just can't back down."

"Oh yeah, of course," Serena said. She seemed to be so relieved on learning all of that that Ash was glad he had shared it with her.

Later that night, Ash tuned onto the news and there was no mention of Professor Gregor haven been spotted- that was good.

It was something that remained unchanged the next morning too, when they bid farewell to Brock's siblings and to Flint.

"Oh, there's something that you should know, son," Flint said. "They finally lifted the ban on people heading on towards the ruins to the north of the city. Normal people aren't allowed yet, but you were a gym leader so you could probably get through. Maybe your friends will like it."

"Uh… I don't know if we'll have time for that," Brock said.

"What ruins?" Misty asked.

"Well," Brock explained as they wandered away, "around six hundred years ago there was a small village that existed to the north of Pewter City. Around three hundred years ago though, every single person in the village suddenly vanished one day. No one knows where they went, but the houses are still there. I used to go on picnics occasionally with my siblings… it was nice since it was just us. I mean, it was a restricted area but I was gym leader so I managed to bypass that. They closed it down to everyone though- even me 'cuz they had to renovate or something. I could show you guys around the place but it might take most of the day. Do you wanna go?"

"Aren't we already behind schedule?" Misty asked.

"We're on a schedule?" Ash asked. Now that was definitely news to him.

"Ash, you need to get eight badges at least one week before the official Pokemon League starts," Brock said. "Only then they'll let you register."

"Oh, but we're pretty ahead, right?" Ash asked. "I mean, I already have three. I think we can take a few hours off."

"Alright then," Brock said.

As expected, there were some League officials who had set up a perimeter around the place, but Brock talked to them and they let them go in. Before they could reach the abandoned village though, they had to go through a stretch of the woods.

Ash wasn't sure why- but it felt like the moment that he had put one foot inside the forest he had suddenly stepped foot on some other alien planet. The temperature seemed to have instantly fallen ten degrees. Brock and Misty didn't seem to notice it, but Serena seemed to be worried.

Brock was talking excitedly about the place, but then, at one point, there was shrill scream.

It was coming from Serena.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

Serena's hand was shaking and she slowly raised it to point at a spot in the forest. "There… there was something, no, someone right there and he-she- it, was looking right at me!"

"What?" Brock said. Brock and Misty headed over to where Serena was pointing to investigate. Ash would've gone too but Serena grabbed his hand and begged him to remain there- she didn't want to be left alone.

"There's nothing," Misty said.

"Yeah," Brock added.

Serena wasn't convinced and was shaking like a leaf in a storm. "Guys… I'm getting a bad vibe from this place…. Co-could we maybe leave and uh, never come back?"

"Really?" Brock asked. "I came here all the time with my siblings and I never heard of anything weird happening. It must've just been your imagination, Serena. There's nothing to worry about."

"I don't feel anything either," Misty said. "What about you Ash?"

Truth be told, Ash was also getting bad vibes from the place. He remembered how he had once watched a movie about vampires when he was six. It wasn't something very scary- he could watch it now and not bat an eye about it but it was pretty frightening to a six-year-old. After watching it, Ash had gotten nightmares and wasn't able to sleep properly. He would just lie down in his bed in the dark of the night, afraid to move, sure that the shadows were ever shifting and morphing into strange and dangerous forms.

He felt just like that at the very moment. It was full broad daylight, but there was still something creepy about the forest.

He wasn't going to let it show though. "I mean, yeah, this place looks fun," he said. But then he turned to Serena. "But y'know, if you don't feel comfortable we can always go back."

"Oh… it's just me then?" Serena said. "Well, okay, _maybe_ we can continue…" She didn't to relax very much though and kept throwing frightened glances here and there.

Nothing else happened as they reached the clearing where they came upon what Ash guessed was the village.

"Any houses that were made of mud or straw are gone of course," Brock said. "And wooden cottages as well, pretty much. But the stone houses are still here but I wouldn't go into one of them though- I don't know how stable they are."

Ash thought it was completely unnecessary for Brock to say that last line, given how the houses had an empty, haunted look and Ash wasn't going to go in any of them any time soon. The village felt as creepy, if not creepier, than the rest of the forest, but again Brock and Misty seemed to be unfazed by the whole atmosphere.

They had lunch in a clearing. Ash found it difficult to enjoy himself and didn't say more than a few words and Serena was always glancing around nervously as if expecting someone to jump up on her. Brock had the relaxed posture of someone who had been there before several times, and Misty didn't seem to be bothered very much.

"Say, d'ya know why everyone left?" Misty asked. "At least a theory or something?"

"No," Brock said. "Records from the time back when Pewter City was much smaller noted that the village did a lot of trade with the city, but then reports and goods from the village stopped coming one day and later when they sent someone to investigate there was no on in the village. They were all gone- some of them had left their meals half-eaten in their plates but there was no one, man or Pokemon to be found. Being ancient times, they were sure there was a curse on the place and no one bothered to return there ever again. There weren't any signs of violence or any clues at all."

"Weird," Ash said. The place was sending shivers down his spine. For some reason, it felt like his reflexes were hyperactive and he seemed to be able to see strange ships hiding in ever dark corner that he could see.

"Well, there isn't much left to see here," Brock said once they were done. "But… there is a wall in the village where the residents wrote stuff. Some of it survives even now."

The wall was basically, well, a six foot high wall made of stone which was covered by moss in some places but Brock was right, there were definitely some things carved into it.

It turned out it was all graffiti from the villagers. Most of it was pretty obscene- Ash asked Brock if he let his siblings near the wall to which Brock's answer was no. Some of it was weird, like, 'Dave grows the best apples around' or 'Praise the Helix!'- that seemed to have been written quite a few times for some reason. One of them was, 'From Hilda, who loves her husband more than anything in the world.'

And it was as Ash was examining something written in the corner that his heart nearly froze.

There was no way… no way at all…it wasn't possible...

The writing read, 'Ash and Gary- Best Friends Until the End of Time.'

There were two marks of Pokemon footprints beneath it. They were slightly faded away, but one of them seemed to belong to a Pikachu. The writing was well above the ground, so Ash found his Pikachu and despite his protests lifted him up to see that Pikachu's paw matched the one made on the wall perfectly.

A trickle of sweat traveled across Ash's forehead. His heart rate increased. He didn't know why- but there was something seriously, seriously, wrong at the moment and he felt as if he was in danger. His hand was trembling and he reached for his Pokedex and snapped a picture of the writing before he couldn't take being there any longer and bolted away from the town.

And so Ash ran. And ran. He didn't fully understand why, but some deep, primal part of him understood that he had to get away from the place as fast as he could. There was something _wrong_ with the place.

He didn't even notice the shouts of his friends as he found himself lost in a section of the forest. He spun around to find that he had completely lost his bearings somehow.

"Child…" a voice came from the woods and Ash spun around, heart racing. His Pikachu took up a defensive stance.

It was an old lady. The same old lady that Ash had seen so long ago back in the Viridian Forest. The woman who said that she was a fortune teller.

"Who are you?" Ash asked.

The woman looked at Ash quizzically. "The real question is… _who are you_?"

Ash heard another voice off in the distance. It was Brock, who was calling out to him.

Ash turned to reply to Brock, but when he turned back around the old lady was gone without a trace.

* * *

Once they were out of the forest, Ash calmed down quite a bit.

"What happened?" Misty asked.

"I-I saw something written in the wall," Ash said. Ash showed them the photo.

"Huh, who's Gary?" Misty asked.

"Oh, a friend of mine," Ash said. Calling Gary 'friend' was kind of stretching the meaning of the term, but Gary did fit. "I don't know why, but how did those lines get there?"

"Coincidence?" Brock asked.

"That doesn't seem likely," Ash said. "Gary and Ash aren't common names and are you telling me that two random people in some small village happened to have those two names and were friends? And one of them had a Pikachu? And I'm not sure what the other footprint was…" Ash then had the Pokedex scan the image. It showed a eighty-five percent match (given the image's quality and accounting for wear and tear this was pretty good) with a Pokemon called Squirtle. It had been one of the starters…

"So what are you saying happened?" Brock asked.

"I dunno," Ash said. "I just… well, I didn't really like the place kind of like Serena but I didn't want to say it aloud, and it got so much worse when I saw it. It was like… well, it was like I had _been there_ before. And I needed to get away, because something bad was about to happen."

Misty scratched her chin. Neither she nor Brock seemed to appreciate what was happening to Ash but Serena seemed to be more accepting. "It could be a prank… did Gary come by here?"

"He wouldn't have been allowed inside," Brock said. "And the ruins are old. And what was he supposed to know- that Ash would somehow have access to an old area and then see that and be spooked about it?"

"Yeah, that's weird," Misty said. "It doesn't make much sense…"

"Well, did you see something like this before?" Serena asked. "Did you see those words before Brock?"

"I never really read what was on the wall," Brock said. "I was always trying to keep my brothers and sisters away from it, so I don't know really. I mean, I knew there was writing on there but that was it. I'm guessing that yeah, those words are as old as they should be."

 **A/N: It occurs to me that since Brock and Misty were gym leaders and virtually all Trainers fight gym leaders at some point or the other, both Brock and Misty should know a lot of Trainers but not once do they run into another Trainer who challenged their gyms ever along their journey. I mean, Brock was clearly a leader for years, he must know a ton of people but that's never mentioned in the anime.**

 **Yeah, Brock never goes, "Oh hey look, I know that Trainer, he challenged my gym once," even though logically speaking he should know about half the Trainers that Ash meets from beforehand.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and do please review.**


	18. The Beasts of Team Rocket I

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I have to admit that the last chapter was a bit out of character for this fanfic, but every Pokemon story has its own version of Lavender Town, I guess.**

"So Ash, do you wanna go back and see what it was all about?" Brock asked.

"You mean, back _into the woods_?" Ash thought about returning to the village and instantly started trembling- he hoped the others couldn't see. He also hoped they couldn't hear his voice crack when he added, "I don't see what we could find there…" Thing was, he couldn't help but feel like he had to be the strongest member of the group- he had to be the one who took down Team Rocket every time they showed up, the one who never showed fear, the one with the strongest Pokemon- and he had kind of let that image down with what had happened. He felt really silly about the whole thing now.

It was also why he didn't mention the old lady. The writing on the wall was visible to everyone, but if he told them that he had met a strange old woman who had just vanished, well, they'd think he was crazy for sure. And Ash didn't want to sound like a loon.

"Well, Ash does kind of have a point," Misty said and shrugged. "Anyway… it did seem kind of boring, Brock, and we are on a schedule after all. We need to go back to Vermilion City and then head towards Celadon City for Ash's next badge."

"Yeah," Serena said. "We should probably go- there's nothing here!" She seemed very excited at the prospect of leaving and never coming back.

"Yeah, it honestly wasn't as exciting as I remembered it either," Brock said. "'Course none of the rest of my family is here, and it was mainly fun thanks to them anyway. Alright, we can pack up and head south then."

Ash was glad to leave- but as he assembled his stuff back into his backpack, he couldn't help but glance back at the forest, wondering just what had happened there.

A cold shiver ran down his spine as he peered into the forest and he shuddered before turning away, glad to be walking away from the place.

* * *

Once Ash and his gang had traveled away from Pewter City, they all turned far more lively and began joking around like normal. Ash still felt shaken up and even now looked around suspiciously as if expecting someone to pounce up on them and his gang from the trees...

But nothing like that happened. Rather than go back using the dark tunnel- which no one wanted to go through again- they decided to go over the mountain. It was a bit of a risky move- they had to use Brock's Onyx to lift all of them high enough, and as they progressed, Ash knew that they wouldn't have ever tried to do so if they hadn't had Brock with them. There was no set path, and at places there was a gap that none of them could cross safely if it weren't for Brock's Onyx's help which made a bridge for them to cross. Not to mention they sometimes accidentally ran into nests that wild Flying Pokemon had made for their hatchlings and this had led to a confrontation with the parents several more times than Ash would have liked.

Still, it was better than being in the darkness of the tunnel which would have been unbearable to Ash at that point. To the west, there was Viridian Forest and to the east was mostly wilderness interspersed with small groves of trees. They decided to descend from the mountain to make camp on the softer grass rather than the hard rock of the mountain.

Ash collapsed in his bed early that night and went off to sleep easily. Trekking was hard enough on the body, but he was also mentally fatigued from what had happened earlier.

He had a strange dream that night. He dreamt that he was dressed up in a suit and seemed to be standing outside a door, waiting for a job interview. Only thing was that the other applicants were all Bidoofs- come to think of it everything in the place was Bidoof-themed. And then, when Ash finally went in, he saw that the interviewer was Gary and he was saying, "Good thing we're still friends, Ash."

That was the last thing that Ash remembered as he got up, shaken from his not-so-sweet dreams as heard a huge roar from somewhere and there was a loud _thud!_ as something heavy hit the ground.

Ash got up, and saw that on a ledge, about twenty feet higher up from where they were camped, there was a yellow Pokemon that looked kind of like a Charizard- but its wings were extremely puny compared to the rest of its body. There was no way that it could possibly fly using them, Ash thought.

Next to the Pokemon though, was a face that Ash could recognize even in his dazed and disoriented state. He was a tall, young man with fiery red hair and was wearing a black cape. With the way the ledge was placed, it probably shielded Ash and his friends from the man's view, which was probably why he hadn't noticed them and was busy inspecting something to the east of the mountain.

"Lance, Elite Four Champion," Ash said in awe. He looked around; all of his friends were deep asleep and hadn't noticed Lance. Ash considered the fact that he was dreaming, but before he could wake them up, Lance got on his Pokemon and surprise, surprise, it _could_ somehow fly and Lance mounted up and disappeared on the horizon- going somewhere southeast.

After a few minutes of staring at the receding figures and watching them disappear Ash was left with a choice- should he get up and start preparing for the rest of the day, or should he just go back to sleep? Eventually he sided with the latter choice but found that he couldn't fall back to sleep anymore and then got up and got ready.

He didn't tell anyone about what he had seen though when they got out of dreamland- he didn't think that they'd believe him and given that he had already said some borderline crazy things yesterday didn't want them to believe that he was hallucinating. He had already learned his lesson with that when he had told Professor Oak about that golden bird Pokemon he had seen when he had left from Pallet Town and Oak hadn't believed him.

They headed south as they had been doing when around three hours into walking, Brock noticed something to the east.

"Whoa," Brock said. Ash turned to look and saw that instead of a the normal collection of tall grass they had seen up till this point, there was a large field that was surrounded by trees with a lake at its edge where the sun was reflected in its center. Near them were several rows of neatly-planted berry plants. "Wait… wait…" Brock said and sent out his Onyx and used it like a ladder to reach the ground.

"What happened?" Serena asked. Serena and Misty also began to descend.

"If I'm not wrong, I think those berries are ones that I've seen before," Brock said. Ash followed Brock and as Brock examined the berries he said, "Yup, I've only seen these on television. There's an entire row of Enigma Berries, and another one of them- oh! I think those are Jaboca Berrier- and Kee Berries? I thought they only grew in Hoenn!"

Serena and Misty were almost done descending behind Ash, but the thing was that Ash felt that there was something… off about the place. Not in the abandoned village sort of way, but rather that there was something that he had missed…

"Wow, I've really hit the jackpot here," Brock said and reached for a berry.

And then it hit Ash. "Stop!"

"Huh?' Brock said and turned around.

"Brock," Ash said. "You can't take those berries. This is a private farm and not somewhere out in the woods. Take a look at how the berries are planted evenly and in straight rows- someone planted them like that. And take a good look at the fields beyond there, the grass there is short like someone's trimmed it. I mean there's no fence around this place, but it definitely belongs to someone."

"Very astute, young Trainer," a voice said and Ash turned to face it.

It was Lance, who was perched up in a tree with a smug expression on his look- his posture practically radiating confidence. Brock and Misty saw Lance too and seemed too shocked to say anything.

"Who are you?" Serena asked.

Lance lost his composure and nearly fell out of the tree while Ash, Brock and Misty did an 'anime fall.'

"That's-" Ash began before Lance interrupted him.

"Wait, allow me to introduce myself to the young lady over there," Lance said. "I- I am Lance the Dragon Tamer, Elite Four Champion of both Kanto and Johto!"

"Oh," Serena said. "Sorry, I'm not from around here."

"That's alright, I don't mind," Lance said, though his expression told Ash otherwise. "Anyway, that lad over there is quite right, this _is_ private property, or to be more specific, _my_ private property."

Brock immediately moved away from the berry trees. "Sorry- I didn't mean to-"

"No matter," Lance said and jumped from the tree branch.

It would've looked pretty cool except for one thing- his cape got caught in one of the branches and so he ended up suspended a few feet from the ground.

"Ah! Help!" he said.

"Uh, why are you wearing a cape even when you're in a tree? It's just like asking for it to get caught in something…" Ash said.

"Ask questions later! Get me out this first!"

Ash obliged and had his Frogadier cut the cape from where it had stuck itself and then Lance fell down but someone managed to still make it look cool by landing on his knee.

From the woods the same Pokemon that Ash had seen earlier that morning appeared- apparently it had heard Lance's shouts.

Ash found his Pokedex and opened it for it to say:

 _Dragonite, the Dragon Pokemon. Despite its small wings which are too small to carry its large body weight, it somehow still the fastest known flying Pokemon. Scientists believe that its flight mechanism is similar to Dragonair and its wings simply exist for decoration._

The Dragonite seemed to be joyful- until it saw Ash and then adopted a harsh, angry expression and grabbed Ash and lifted him by his collar. His Frogadier moved in to defend Ash, but the Dragonite swatted Frogadier aside like a fly using its tail.

"What are you doing Dragon-" Lance said but then paused as he took a closer look at Ash's face. "Wait a minute… you're that thief aren't you?"

"Huh?" Ash said. However, just as quickly as the Dragonite had grabbed Ash it also let him go, and now had a confused expression on its face that was mirrored on Lance's face too.

"No, you're right Dragonite," Lance said. "He looks a lot like him, but it isn't the same person."

"What?" Serena asked. "I'm sorry- but why did your Pokemon attack Ash?" There was no hiding the anger in her voice.

"My deepest and sincerest apologies," Lance said. "You see, several years ago a thief came to this very place and attempted to steal several Dratini eggs that I was raising. The thief got away somehow and I've been looking for him ever since. The thing is that you bear a strange resemblance to that person. He had red hair- but it isn't very difficult to dye your hair and I thought for a moment, as well as did my Dragonite, that it was you. On closer inspection though, that is clearly wrong, plus that boy in question who did try to steal from me would probably be around seventeen or eighteen at this time. You're too young to be him. You aren't hurt are you?"

"Uh, no," Ash said, rubbing his neck. Truth be told it did burn a bit, but it wasn't too much. He was too busy thinking that the person that Lance was talking about was probably Silver. Just what had his older brother gotten into?

The Dragonite turned around and grabbed something from the fields and handed it to Ash.

It was a rock. Ash guessed this was the Dragonite's way of apologizing.

"Oh… a rock? How thoughtful. Uh… thank you?" Ash said and the Dragonite beamed at him, not noting the sarcasm in Ash's voice. Ash stuffed it into his pocket without giving it a second glance. He didn't feel like refusing it.

"That said I-" Lance began before he grabbed a part of his own cape. "What! It's- it's- torn!"

"Yeah, I kind of had to do that because-" Ash said before stopping mid-sentence as Lance had taken off his cloak and was looking at it like a soldier would a fellow wounded comrade.

"My cloak… one of my favorites…. you didn't deserve to go like this," Lance said and then found the other piece still stuck to a tree branch and freed it. "Maybe I can patch you up. Anyway, all of you, if you want you can come with me to my cabin. It's just around the corner- proverbially of course, and I'd like to make everything up to you. Plus I rarely get visitors here."

Lance then began walking into the fields and his Dragonite beckoned Ash and his friends to follow it.

"Whoa," Misty finally found herself being able to say, " _The_ Elite Four Champion."

"Yeah," Ash said. "I think I saw him earlier in the morning. I just didn't believe it."

"I still don't believe it," Brock said. "I didn't know that he owned a private estate somewhere around here. I didn't even know there was anything around here."

"Well, let's go and follow him," Ash said.

"Wait- are you sure you want to go after him?" Serena asked. "I mean, we were _just_ talking about sticking to schedule here, and the guy seems a bit… uh, off his rocker, if you know what I mean…"

"Yeah, but it's not every single day that you get to meet Lance, Elite Four Champion," Ash said.

"Ash, don't bother trying to challenge him," Misty said.

"I wi- how did you know that I was going to challenge him?" Ash asked.

"Ash, you're not very difficult to read," Misty said. "And as for why you shouldn't, because he'd wipe the floor with you. He just took out your Frogadier without a moment's thought."

"Yeah, but that was when I wasn't ready," Ash said.

"Right… and you somehow think being a bit more ready will help you take on the best Pokemon Trainer in all of Kanto?" Brock asked. "Ash, really, if you want to meet him, well, I'm all up for it and maybe we can learn a thing or two, but don't go ahead wasting your time asking for a battle. Lance probably isn't even going to agree to it."

"Oh, alright," Ash said. "But you're all a bunch of party-poopers…" he muttered under his breath.

Lance was out of sight now, but his Dragonite had turned around to look at them and beckoned them to follow.

Along the way, Ash saw lots of Pokemon, and most of them turned out to be Dragon types. He saw a small pool full of Dratini, and he was about to go and try to catch one (Dragonites were almost as cool as Charizards in his opinion. Almost, but not quite) before he remembered that these were probably all Lance's Pokemon and then stopped himself.

The estate seemed to be a whole lot bigger than what it had initially looked like, and there were a ton of exotic berry plants that were growing around- some that Brock had never seen before.

Brock didn't pick any though of course- but Lance's Dragonite seemed to notice that Brock was looking at them and wandered over to the berries, plucked them, and offered to share them with Brock.

"Uh… no-no thanks," Brock said, sweating. He had seen how mad Lance had gotten when he had thought Ash was a thief and didn't want the same to happen to him- plus it didn't feel right. "I'm good. I'm good."

Lance's Dragonite looked at Brock, confused, and then offered the berries again.

"You might as well take them, Brock," Ash said. "I don't think Dragonite's used to hearing the word 'no.'"

"Oh," Brock said and pocketed them and then whispered to the others, "I'll give them back to Lance when we meet up and explain how I got them. He'll understand, right?"

"Yeah," Serena said. Of all them, she seemed to be the one least impressed with Lance.

"Don't sweat it," Ash said. He followed Lance's Dragonite- it had a nice, jovial look on its face and Ash had to say that he felt that it kind of took away from its reputation for being an extremely powerful Pokemon. A Charizard didn't go around smiling like the village idiot, after all.

Now, Ash had been expecting Lance's house out here to be a cottage of some sorts- what he hadn't been expecting was a stone castle that was well hidden from the rest of the place. The castle was situated on a steep ledge and it sort of reminded Ash of Bill's house in that it looked like a very tough place to try and storm or break into if you wanted to do so.

Lance was standing near the gate and beckoned them to follow as the gate opened up. The place was clearly an ancient castle but seemed to have been merged with an electronic security system which was again, so similar to the one that Bill had that Ash was sure that Bill had designed this one too.

There was a lot of stuff to look at inside- most of it was old artwork or paintings which Ash didn't really care for but Serena seemed to be impressed by it.

They wandered into a large room where there was Lance, seated at a wooden table with the cloak on it. He had a sewing kit in front of him.

It was then that Ash took a better look at the walls- and saw that they were covered not by curtains as he had initially thought but by a huge number of capes- some of them identical to the one that Lance was wearing, while others were set in the weirdest of colors and patterns- there was one with a Jigglypuff on it for some reason. Ash wondered if Lance ever wore that.

"Hello," Lance said, but he didn't look up from what he was doing, as if he was a surgeon performing a very complex procedure. "I store most of my capes in here. I have a special fondness for capes, as you may have all guessed. I buy them mostly from the Celadon Department Store, but some I have to get from abroad."

"Oh," Ash said, but didn't say anything further as he could see that Lance seemed to be pretty focused on what he was doing.

After five minutes, Lance got up from the table and sighed. "Oh well, it looks like this is beyond me. I'll have it sent elsewhere and see if it can be repaired." He then looked at his guests, and then pointed to Ash's pocket. "That seems like a strange place to carry something so big."

"Oh, yeah," Ash said and took out the rock that Lance's Dragonite had given him. "Your Dragonite gave it to me."

Lance began examining the rock. It was just a dull brown rock- at least Ash though so before Lance began chipping the dust on top of it away to reveal a small, spherical, glowing stone. "I don't believe it," Lance said. "This is a Charizardite X. And you're telling me that you found this in my fields?"

"Uh… yeah," Ash said. "What's a Charizardite X?"

"A Mega Evolution Stone," Lance said. "Some people in Kalos and Hoenn have described a way for Pokemon to evolve beyond what they're normally capable of."

"Mega evolution?" Brock asked.

Serena gasped and said, "Yeah, I've heard of it. A Pokemon like Charizard can evolve to a higher form if it's used, but it goes back to being a normal Pokemon after the fight. You need a Mega Ring though."

"Not just that," Lance said. "But it's said that the bond between Trainer and Pokemon must be very strong for it to work." Lance handed Ash the stone back.

"Wait, I can't keep this," Ash said. "I mean, this is yours after all." Ash could tell that whatever it was, it was valuable, even if he didn't get the whole concept of Mega Evolution very well.

"Oh, if Dragonite gave you something, well, maybe you were destined to carry it," Lance said. "Anyway, it only works for a Charizard, and I don't have one. You can find more of them, and based on the Pokemon they're used for they're named with '-ite' at the end, like Absolite for Absol, or Gengarite for Gengar."

"So… is there one for Dragonite?" Ash asked. "Would it be called… Dragoniteite?"

"I don't know," Lance said. "I don't think there is one. Sadly, not all Pokemone have a Mega Evolution." He then looked around. "I'm sorry, I haven't done very well at playing the host. You see, this is a private estate that I bought where I usually like to go when I want to get away from the Pokemon League for a while, and it's only an hour away from the League by Dragonite, so I'm never too far away in case they really need me. Not only that but it's well hidden from the rest of the world so I can get some alone time when I need it."

"So, you own this castle?" Ash asked.

"Yes," Lance said.

"But… it must cost a lot to run it," Ash said. "Does the Pokemon League maintain it?"

"Uh, no," Lance said. "I mean, I can't _officially_ use taxpayer's money for things just for my own private use really, at least not a castle this big, but this castle is actually a historical monument, and I also breed Dratini and some other Pokemon for the League here, so I get paid for those things and that pays for this place as well. Not to mention I'm also conserving a few rare berry species, I mean, I do sell a bit of them, but they're still being conserved so I can funnel funds through that project…"

Ash noticed that Lance seemed to be getting slightly uncomfortable talking about the place's finances, so he didn't press him further on that.

"Anyway," Lance said. "I like this place as it is pretty secluded so I don't get visitors here and there are no people challenging me to battle all the time-" Ash gulped "-and there's really no fence since I have no problem with the wild Pokemon wandering in as they please."

"They don't eat your berries?" Brock asked.

"Most of them are exotic varieties that none of them have seen before, and so wild Pokemon don't go and try them," Lance said. "Now, I'd like you all to keep this place a secret to-" Lance was interrupted by a phone in the corner, which was ringing.

"Oh, what do they want now?" Lance muttered under his breath and stormed over to the phone. He turned around and said, "I'm sorry, but this is privileged League communication here. I'm gonna have to ask all of you to stand outside of the room."

Ash and his friends obliged.

"Man, he sure is stuck-up," Serena said, sounding very annoyed. "First he invites us in, and then he makes us get out like he's too busy…"

"Serena," Brock and Misty said, shocked. "That's the Pokemon League Champion you're talking about!"

"Yeah, I _so_ haven't been reminded of that every five minutes since I got here," Serena said and rolled her eyes. "And for that-"

She was interrupted as Lance came out of the room. "I'm sorry, but there's an emergency," Lance said. "A vessel known as the _S. S. Anne_ has shipwrecked somewhere far from the coast of Vermillion City. The Trainers there are stranded and I have to go and help."

"Wait, what ship did you say?" Ash asked. "I think I've heard the name before…"

"The _S. S. Anne_ ," Lance repeated. "You might have heard of it before, it is a pretty popular cruise ship."

And it was then that Ash remembered that he had heard that name before, but it was from his father telling him not to board as Team Rocket was going to do something about it.

"Anyway, the other members of the Elite Four are in Johto and won't reach there in time," Lance said. "I have to leave immediately, I'm sorry."

"Wait-" Ash said. "Let us help you!"

"Huh?" Lance said.

"Let us come to," Ash said. "We can help out."

"Well, I suppose we could take another Dragonite and get there in time," Lance said. "But it could be dangerous, I should warn you."

"No problem," Ash said. "I eat danger for breakfast!" Thing was, although his father had specifically told him not to get involved, what this all meant was that the Pokemon League was onto whatever plan his father had made. And with Lance going there, it would be tough for them to pull it off. Ash wasn't sure about what he would do once he got to the ship- given that he had no idea what the situation was about after all, but it would probably involve messing up Lance's plans somehow to let some Rocket members escape. Either that, or he could just help Lance out and get into Lance's good books like his father would have wanted. With those two justifications- and knowing that his friends would probably try to help Lance with or without Ash offering it first, he might as well tag along and see how things would turn out.

Ash looked around and saw that his friends seemed to be far less eager to jump into this than he was, but they seemed willing still to help people in danger.

"Well, I suppose a few extra hands could be useful," Lance said. "All right then, but I have two Dragonite and we need to get there fast. So, we need to split up with three on one and two on the other. I'm a bit older than you guys, so I think my Dragonite will only be able to take me and someone else."

In the end, they decided that Brock and Lance would go on one Dragonite, and Ash, Misty, and Serena on the other one. Brock was heavier than any of the other three, so it seemed like a symmetric distribution of weight.

Once they were seated, the two Dragonite took off, and boy could they travel fast. Ash sat on his Dragonite with both Misty and Serena behind him, and he felt the wind roar as they rapidly ascended and felt himself being pushed back.

 **A/N: And that ends this chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	19. The Beasts of Team Rocket II

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Thrakon Deus and Helmius Thea. I have more of a problem with Lance's Gamesharked Aerodactyl than his underleveled Dragonite.**

The land zoomed out from under Ash as they flew at speeds that he couldn't really believe- not only could Dragonite fly, but they could fly _fast_! This meant that in minutes they had crossed what would have taken at least a day for them normally and they reached Vermillion City, and then it's harbor.

But they didn't stop there.

"The ship is to the south," Lance said.

They continued flying, out over the water until they came across a huge cruise liner which Ash guessed was the _S. S. Anne_.

Ash wasn't really a fan of watching documentaries on television, but he had once seen a show where there was a huge Wailord being hunted by an entire pack of Sharpedo. The Wailord was big and strong, but with that it was also slow and the pack of Sharpedo completely surrounded it and began tearing at it with their teeth and eventually brought it down.

And the Wailord in this case was the _S. S. Anne_ which was surrounded by a large number of small black boats. As they sped towards the side, Ash could see the Team Rocket logo painted onto the sides of a few of them. Lance motioned for them to land on deck where there were a couple of sailors and some tourists lounging around.

It didn't look like an emergency, funnily enough.

"What's the problem?" Lance asked as they descended on deck. Almost everyone stopped what they were doing to get a glance of the Elite Four Champion.

"Problem?" a sailor asked. "Whadd'ya mean?"

"But there was a distress signal from this ship and…" Lance then suddenly realized his mistake as the Captain had probably not told everyone in order to avoid panic.

"I mean, haven't you seen the ships around us from Team Rocket?" Ash asked as he too, got off.

Lance groaned and shot Ash a look which Ash didn't see, but the reaction to his words was almost instantaneous as people began running around the deck in a wild panic shouting, "Team Rocket's here! We're all doomed!"

"Everyone calm down!" Lance shouted and one of his Dragonite shot a Hyper Beam into the sky. Everyone did seem to stay silent for a while. "Do not worry about Team Rocket- after all, I, Lance, Elite Four Champion have come to help you. I need you all to not panic and for the time being, I say that we should gather all the ship's residents into one place so that they can be safely guarded."

One of the sailors spoke up. "Uh, League Champion, Sir? I work here on this ship and I'm on off-time right now and I know it from tip to tip sir. If you want to gather everyone, the best place would be the Fountain Hall where we usually hold our grand parties."

"How many floors does this ship have?" Lance asked. "And where's this Fountain Hall?"

"Three main floors, sir," the sailor replied. "That's present right on the top floor sir, though technically speaking _this_ is a floor above that."

"Alright, here's the plan then," Lance said and turned to the others. "All of you, go together to the middle floor and tell everyone to gather in the Fountain Hall. Remember to stick together no matter what happens. I'll check out the bottom floor, I'm assuming that some of them will have already boarded by now and I'll try to keep them off. As for you, find the captain and bring him to the Fountain Hall as well."

"Yes Champion, Sir!" the sailor saluted and then ran off.

"Wait," Serena said. "What if they try to blow a hold throw the ship or something?"

"Unlikely," Lance said as he withdrew one of his Dragonite. "If they're here in such massive numbers, I can only assume that they want the Pokemon on this ship, and also to use the people here as hostage. They can't do that if we gather everyone in one place which is easily defendable, and they won't want to blow up the ship as they might be looking to take the ship itself as well." Lance then took off for the door along with his Dragonite before he paused and turned around. "And another thing… most likely this won't happen, but if you run into some Team Rocket goons… run."

"We can handle a few Team Rocket grunts," Ash said. "I've been doing that for a long time."

"That may be true, but anyone can be outnumbered," Lance said. "And another thing… if you see any Team Rocket members who have shiny white uniforms and look like they're in charge of the other members, well, in that case, seriously, run away. Do not try to fight them. And again, don't split up."

Lance then walked down the stairs only for his cape to get caught in the door as he closed it.

"Not again! This is the second time this day!"

And once his cloak was finally free he left.

"I don't get why he wears it all the time," Misty said. "Looks like it'd just get caught in something…"

"Well, you heard what he said," Ash said. "Let's go to the middle floor, which I guess means its two floors beneath this. But if I do see some Team Rocket members though, I'll give them a taste of their own medicine!"

"Pika pii!" Pikachu said and darted down the stairs.

"Ash wait up!" Serena and Misty both said at once as they began following Ash.

Now, again, Ash wasn't really one to notice these things, but the cruise liner was really fancy. There were crystal chandeliers and the wallpaper around the rooms felt velvety and had tiny Wailord painted in pink at the bottom.

"So what do we say?" Serena asked. "What if they think that this is all a prank? I mean, they'll all believe Lance if he was with us, but what makes you think that they'll listen to a bunch of kids?"

"Hey, I am a gym leader," Misty said. "And Brock is too. There must be people who know us."

As it turned out, Serena was mostly right. Whenever they knocked on people's rooms (surprisingly Ash noticed that most of the rooms were unlocked and if you wanted to you could probably just stroll in- weird) and told them what was going on they were met with confused looks. Most people wanted to know more about what was going on and started asking questions that they couldn't answer since they didn't know, or did believe that this was some sort of an elaborate practical joke.

Even one of the waiters.

"Sirs, misses, this is all very funny and all, but if you would maybe please, I could lead you back to your cabins and your parents because afterwards I have lots of work to do," the guy said.

"We're not joking here!" Ash said.

"Yeah, they aren't," a voice said. Out of the corner stepped out someone that Ash recognized- it was Emile.

"Ah, Monsieur Emile," the waiter said. "Do you know these people?"

"Yes, and if they're saying we should evacuate we should," Emile said. "I've been glancing through the windows, and I saw a weird ship with an R on it pass by. We need to get people to wherever they're saying."

"Ah, then certainly," the waiter said and then left, now knocking on people's doors himself to get them to leave.

"Huh, what are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"Well, I got a free ticket from some two weird hipster-looking people," Emile said. "And I thought, you know, why not? The battlin's been good here, I've won almost all the fights that I've gotten into on this floor. I guess you could say that people do respect me. Say, is Lance really here?"

"Yeah," Ash said. "He is. And we could use your help in getting everyone upstairs."

"Count me in," Emile said.

* * *

Two hours later, everyone that they could find was gathered along with them in the Fountain Hall. The _S. S. Anne_ was luxurious in and of itself, and the Fountain Hall was the cherry on top.

It would've been a lovely place to be- but the thing was that it was pretty overcrowded.

"I don't see Lance anywhere," Ash said, glancing around. "But the Captain's here."

"He says he's also waiting for Lance to come," Serena said. "Do you think he might have been caught up in a battle?"

"Well, that is the most likely explanation," Emile said. "But come one now, that guy's not going to have any trouble protecting himself. Say Ash, while we're all gathered here, how about a battle? I know that you wanted one back in Mt. Moon."

"You guys can't battle here 'cuz there's no room, I can't even sneeze without tripping over someone," Brock said.

Misty then grabbed Brock's ear and started twisting it. "I think what you mean to say is that you've somehow been 'accidentally' tripping over every nice-looking girl you've found in this place, don't you?"

"I know a place to the side of this room, which is a bit more open," Emile said. He then began to edge through the crowd and pointed to a hall which turned someplace that Ash couldn't see.

"Well, I'm always up for a fight," Ash said. "You guys stay here and just call us if Lance comes back or something, 'kay?" And then Ash began to follow Emile.

"Three on three is fine with you, right?" Emile asked. "I only have three Pokemon."

"Yeah, so do I," Ash said. He then paused. "Is… is having only three Pokemon at this point mean that we're lagging behind or something?"

"No, I only have three too," Emile said. "But there was this guy on board who said that he had managed to acquire forty of them by now and it was his first time on this journey too."

"Forty? He's caught forty?" Ash exclaimed.

"No, he just said that he filled the Pokedex to forty, which I think actually means that he caught and maybe evolved some," Emile said. "But yeah, it was pretty unbelievable. I think that he was lying or something because he only had four on hand and I bet him- look we're here!"

The hall opened into a small corridor to the side of the ship. A sea breeze was blowing and the corridor was large enough to just accommodate them for a battle.

"Okay, go Ivysaur!" Emile said.

"Go! Charmander!" Ash said and released his Charmander. He hadn't used his Charmander quite yet, not in any tough battle, but he guessed that this was as good a time as any for him to try it out with the type advantage that he had.

"Ivysaur! Sleep Powder!" Emile said.

"Charmander! Dodge!" Ash said but then instantly realized that it was pointless- the two Pokemon were so close and the hall so narrow that trying to doge almost anything was out of the questions. And Ash realized that Emile had probably known about this before and this was why Emile had asked that they battle here. Come to think of it, that was probably why he had chosen to send out his Ivysaur out of all the Pokemon he had. "Hey- that's not fair!"

Emile just smiled. "A true Trainer knows how to use the terrain to his advantage!"

As lucky would have it though, the breeze suddenly shifted and the dust was carried away.

"Not fair!" Emile now said, his smile gone.

Ash smirked now. "A true Trainer knows how to use the terrain _and_ the weather to his advantage! Charmander! Ember!"

The Ivysaur took the attack hard and groaned in pain.

"Yeah- Charmander? Something wrong?" Ash asked as he noticed his Charmander had suddenly froze. "Oh no- it's not the Pokerus is it?" Ash was suddenly very worried- he didn't know if there was a Nurse Joy on board, and even if there was somewhere that he could try and treat his Charmander, would it be someone who was used to seeing what Ash guessed was a rare disease?

"Pokerus?" Emile asked. "Is that the Pokemon virus you're talking about?"

"Yeah but-" Ash paused as he realized that his Charmander wasn't sick, no, it was evolving. And then, Ash saw that he know had a Charmeleon in front of him- just a few steps away from becoming a Charizard!

"Oh, lucky you," Emile complained. He withdrew his Ivysaur and sent out a Meowth instead.

"Huh, I know another Meowth, but it doesn't really fight," Ash said. "Charmander-I mean, Charmeleon, use Ember!"

Charmeleon responded by attacking the Meowth, but Meowth then got up and slashed Charmeleon across the chest and Charmeleon staggered back, looking very weak.

"Ugh," Ash said. It looked like even as a Charmeleon, his Pokemon was just too undertrained to handle this sort of a fight. "Great job, Charman-I mean Charmeleon! Go, Pikachu!"

Pikachu stepped forward and sparks began flying from its cheeks.

"Thunderbolt! Go!" Ash said.

That did quite a lot of damage, and the opposing Meowth teetered on its feet.

"Again, Quick Attack!" Ash said and with that landed a finishing blow on the Meowth.

"Ugh, you're good," Emile said. "But I haven't given up yet! Go! Ivysaur!"

Before their battle could continue though, they were interrupted by Serena, who popped out near the entrance and almost got caught up in the battle between the two Pokemon. "Uh, sorry, but Lance has come back."

"We'll finish up later," Emile said.

"Definitely," Ash replied and they headed back towards the Fountain Hall.

Lance was there, and so was the Captain, but the Captain's face was green. Ash, if he hadn't known better, guessed that the guy was seasick, but come on, if he got seasick so easily, would they let him be the captain of a big ship like this.

Lance began talking and the room fell quietly. "Ladies and gentleman, I am Lance of the Elite Four. I believe that many, if not all of you have already heard of me. The thing is that, for unknown reasons, a terrorist group known as Team Rocket has attempted to capture this ship. As of now I've fought several of their members but I believe they were just scouts and they will be reporting back soon. As such, as long as you all remain here and remain calm, I will be able to guard this floor and keep everyone safe. In addition, I will be needing some… volunteers. Are there any experienced Trainers here?"

Very few hands rose up, which was something that Ash wasn't expecting. From what Emile said, the ship was practically bursting with Pokemon Trainers.

"Our Pokemon are recovering, at least most of them," a random person said. "We've all been fighting with each other since this cruise started." It was then that Ash turned his head so fast he felt like he had nearly snapped his neck- that was Gary! But he was on the other side of the room, so it would have been pretty tough for Ash to try to get there and talk to him right now.

"Yeah," Emile said. "But hey, at least we're rarin' to go, right?"

"Umm… so the volunteers please meet me below this floor," Lance said. He sounded worried- something that Ash wasn't expecting.

It turned out that it was just Ash, Brock, Misty, Serena, and Emile who showed up to answer Lance's call. A lot of the Trainers seemed to have their Pokemon injured, or maybe they were just sure that Lance could handle everything by himself.

"I'm afraid I have bad news," Lance said. "Remember earlier how I told you to run away from any Rocket members who had silvery-white uniforms? I believe that they might be trying to get on board. I heard a grunt saying that they needed to contact their boss by the name of Archer. And I've had encounters with him once already."

Lance continued. "The people who wear silver uniforms call themselves 'The Beasts of Team Rocket' and from what I've gained by spying on them, there are four of them, though I've only met three. And the thing is, that they're all strong. Very strong- such that their power almost reaches that of an Elite Four member. Almost, but not quite. And the thing is, I have a bad feeling that all three of them might be on board. I am perfectly capable of handling two of them at a time, but the problem is that two of them engage me and another one attempts to strike me from the rear. I was… it's a bit embarrassing to say, but I was forced to run away when they had me pinned down like that. I wish I had another member of the Elite Four with me, they wouldn't stand a chance then, but I'm afraid that they'll reuse that tactic. What I need is for you to distract one of them while I fight the other two. Remember that you just need to stall for time- it isn't a problem if you fail to defeat them. I don't expect you to be able to."

"Whoa, are they really that strong?" Ash asked.

"Surprisingly so," Lance said. He began walked and soon enough they ran into a dozen or so grunts whom Lance took out with ease. "I don't know who they are or why Trainers that strong would choose to side with Team Rocket is another thing."

They ran into hordes of grunts, but Ash and Emile took out most of them and where either of them faltered (their Pokemon were a bit tired from their recent fight) Serena, Brock, or Misty pitched it. Lance seemed to be trying to conserve his strength.

After a while they ended up in a corridor that opened up in three directions. A door opened up behind them to reveal a tall man with dark hair in what seemed like a lab coat but was shinier and also had a red 'R' on the left side.

"Archer," Lance hissed. A door in front of them also opened to reveal a short woman with blue hair and beady eyes who was dressed similarly.

And towards their left, which was the only opening available to them given the two people blocking the other paths, there stood a tall woman with silvery hair with a malicious grin on her face.

"So this was an ambush," Lance said.

"How perceptive, but we weren't expecting for a bunch of kids to come here," Archer said and then released an Abomasnow. "However, I'm surprised that you still managed to find the courage to come here and face us once you knew that we were on board… or do you not remember the time we sent you running away with your tail between your legs?"

"We'll see who needs to run this time," Lance said and released both of his Dragonite, one of the stared down the Abomasnow and the other glared at the short lady who sent out a Gardevoir.

"Ash, I need you to hold Venus over there off while I take on these two," Lance said. "Attack her together."

Ash and Emile ran forward to face the silver haired lady who sent out a Gengar. Brock, Serena, and Misty all were a few steps behind Ash and Emile- the corridor wasn't wide enough for all of them to face her in an arc.

"Well, I don't know why you're so certain," the short lady said. "Certain of beating us, that is."

"Perhaps he's been training, Camilla," Archer suggested. But then he tapped something on his wrist. "But I suppose he doesn't know that he's not the only one who gets stronger…"

Lance couldn't believe his eyes. "Is that…"

He then whirled around to see Camilla was wearing a large earring only on her left ear, and in it was a stone that resembled the same Key Stone that Archer had.

Abomasnow began to glow and disappeared in a glow of light as it turned into a Pokemon which seemed to have huge swathes of ice hair sticking out of it, and Gardevoir similarly turned into a Pokemon with a slightly changed appearance and a… bigger dress? Alright, but Lance didn't see how that made it any stronger.

"Oh, looks like the Champion here still hasn't figured out Mega Evolution yet," Archer said with a grin. "What do you think your chances are no-"

"Dragonite! Flamethrower!" Lance ordered.

The attack was four times effective on the Abomasnow, but surprisingly it stood on its feet before it sent a powerful Ice Beam at Lance's Dragonite, which it just managed to avoid.

Lance frowned. It had been bad enough last time when they had used these Pokemon which had quite an advantage against him and his Dragon types, but these Mega Evolutions were probably stronger than normal. Only thing was he had little clue as to just how much stronger.

Ash and his friends didn't see any of this though. No, they were busy staring down Venus as she tapped a Key Stone around her neck and her Gengar changed into something that had legs.

"Oh, poor things, you've never seen Mega Evolution, now have you?" she asked. She then frowned as she took a closer look at Ash. "You there… are you, no you can't be… he has red hair and would be older…"

"What's she talking about?" Emile asked.

"I don't know," Ash said. But this made him realize one thing- whoever these Beasts of Team Rocket were, they didn't know who he was, though clearly they knew Silver. This meant that this was going to be a real battle. "But it doesn't matter. Go! Frogadier!"

Emile sent out his Ivysaur, Serena her Braixen, Brock his Geodude, and Misty her Starmie.

"Five on one?" Venus said. "That isn't fair…"

"Well, you kind of ganged up on Lance before so that's sort of hypocritical," Emile said.

"No, boy, what I meant to say is that for this to be fair you needed to bring in a dozen more people," Venus said. "But you know what, I'll play with you for a while. This is the first time my Gengar's in this form, so I suppose some target practice would be good…"

And without any warning, Gengar shot a Shadow Ball at Serena's Braixen. Frogadier intercepted the attack and took it- Ash thought that would be better than having a Psychic type take a Ghost type attack, but then Frogadier collapsed to the ground.

That was it. In a single hit, one of his strongest Pokemon with a type disadvantage had been defeated.

Behind him, Ash heard the cry of one of Lance's Dragonites as it was also beaten, and a loud roar that he recognized from not so long ago that belonged to a Gyarados.

But while Ash had been stunned by how his Greninja had been taken out, Emile had taken the opportunity to use Sleep Powder on the opposing Gengar, which thankfully hit.

Venus snarled. "Oh, you lucky brat…"

And then Braixen hit it with a Psybeam, Starmie with another Psybeam, and Geodude with Rock Thrown. Even though Ash hadn't fully taken in what was going on, his Pikachu was on the ball and stepped forward to zap the enemy Gengar.

Even after all of that though, the attacks combined didn't seem to have hurt the opposing Pokemon much. Ash heard the sound of wood breaking behind him and a wall had definitely been torn down, but he didn't dare let that distract him from the battle.

"She's out of our league…" Ash said to himself. He knew at that moment that there really was no way that they could win, and their only real hope was Lance's original plan- to stall her long enough so that he could beat the other two and come to their aid.

Of course, _if_ Lance managed to beat the other two, Ash thought pessimistically. The battle behind him didn't seem to be going too well, Lance's other Dragonite had also been taken down and a Pokemon whose cry he didn't recognize had been sent out.

"Abomasnow, no!" Archer cried out. Camilla also seemed unhappy and from what Ash could tell, her Gardevoir had been taken out. At least the battle seemed to be turning for Lance at least.

As for them, Ash last track of time completely. It was all they could do when the Gengar woke up to barely avoid its attacks and try and attack it back- attacks which seemed to do nothing against it at all. Emile managed to get it Paralyzed by Stun Spore, and that bought them more time, at least until Venus became very, very angry.

"Now you've made me mad," Venus said. "Let me show you how terrifying an adult can be!"

She withdrew her Gengar and instead sent out a Houndoom and a Seviper.

In as much time as it would take for Ash to blink, the Seviper took out Emile's Ivysaur and the Houndoom roasted Misty's Starmie with a Fire attack which took it out in one hit.

The two Pokemon weren't as strong as the Gengar, but they were clearly still very tough…

 **Alternate Lines**

Lance glanced uneasily back at the Mega Gardevoir. "I liked Gardevoir better when they weren't Fairy types. I actually like Pokemon a lot better when there were no Fairy types..."

"Fairy types have brought balance to the game!" Camilla said.

"No- they've made a mockery of Dragon types!" Lance said. "What's the point of being a Dragon Tamer now that they're around?"

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked. Emile made a reappearance in this chapter like I said he would, but I still don't see him nicknaming his Pokemon in the videos so I've left that out.**


	20. The Beasts of Team Rocket III

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I'll admit I didn't know about that regarding Emile, I'll have to watch more video I guess till I reach that point.**

The Houndoom and the Seviper may have been weaker than the Mega Gengar, but they were more than strong enough to completely tear through all of Ash's Pokemon and his friend's.

As the two enemy Pokemon moved to strike them however, a blue whirlwind soared over their heads and landed in front of them- a Dragonair! And it shot a Water Pulse and the Houndoom, and though the Seviper struck at the Dragonair with a Poison Fang, Dragoinair didn't let up its attack and took out the Houndoom before slamming Seviper with its tail.

"Oh, looks like your friend Lance has sent you some help," Venus said. "Too bad it's badly Poi-" she paused as Dragonair glowed and then shed a layer of its skin off. "Shed Skin- bah!"

In this momentary lull in the battle, Ash turned around to see what was happening with Lance.

Lance had sent out a red Gyarados- yeah, a red one somehow, Ash would have to ask about that later. And in addition to that, he had a Pokemon which looked like a dinosaur only it was flapping around and had humongous jaws.

Lance, however, was grinning. It was wicked, slightly sinister grin, but the thing was that even with his both of his Dragonite out, and even with being outnumbered by two people who used Mega Evolution, Lance was not only holding his ground but had enough firepower to share it with Ash and his friends.

'Just how strong is he?' Ash thought to himself.

Camilla and Archer were both snarling and had had their cocky grins completely wiped off their faces. Their Mega Evolution Pokemon had been defeated and now they seemed to be down to their last ones.

Ash looked at his friends properly for the first time since the battle started, and saw that their expressions of shock mirrored his. They too were well aware that they had no chance against this Rocket Admin, but were just trying to stall for Lance's sake.

Dragonair was now striking the enemy Seviper with Dragon Pulse.

"This was supposed to be an easy mission," Camilla said. "But it looks like we… underestimated the League Champion there…"

"Yeah, well, we're not going to let you kill Lance!" Emile said bravely.

"Eh? We never wanted to kill him… the object was to take him hostage…"

"You wanted to kidnap Lance?" Serena asked.

"Huh," Emile said as he realized something. "This was a classic hammer-and-anvil tactic, with those two as the anvil and Venus here as the hammer."

"And I would've gotten away with it too," Venus said. "If it wasn't for you meddling kids." She glared at them and her hands seemed to be trembling with rage. Her eyes fixated on Ash. "You- you're the strongest of this lot, aren't you?"

"I take offense to that," Emile said but no one paid him much attention.

"I'll remember this- and I'll remember your face too. Venus of Team Rocket does not forget those who defied her. And one day…" she trailed off. "...well, you had better hope that we never cross paths again and watch your back carefully boy..."

A chill crept down Ash's spine. This lady… she very well meant what she was saying. And Ash knew that he was nowhere near as strong as her.

She sent out a Pokemon that looked like two Koffing fused together which unleashed a dark gas from its mouth and enveloped the entire field.

"Aerodactyl! Blow the smoke away!" came Lance's voice and the smoke dissipated to reveal that the Rocket bosses were nowhere to be found.

"Well," Lance said with a triumphant grin, "who's ran away this time?" But he was clearly exhausted. "Let's go see what the action is upstairs."

"Don't you wanna go after them?" Misty asked.

"I'm in no condition to," Lance said. "And they're probably preparing another ambush in case. But the thing is that I haven't seen any Rocket Grunts with these three we were fighting, which means that they're all probably upstairs attacking the Fountain Hall while we were distracted."

They withdrew their Pokemon and rushed back upstairs to see that the Fountain Hall was in complete disarray. People were shouting and screaming and it took a Hyper Beam shot into the sky from Lance's Dragonair to get them to calm down.

"What happened here?" Lance asked.

"Rocket Grunts!" someone shouted. "As soon as you left, swarms of them came from another staircase and they began attacking us!"

And with that, the story began to unfold. The Trainers who had been on deck and still had some Pokemon capable of fighting had fought valiantly but they had been quickly outnumbered and barely had manged to stave them off from completely running over the people gathered there until for some reason the Grunts had all withdrawn and disappeared as quickly as they had come.

"They stole my wallet!" came a cry.

"They stole my necklace!"

"They stole my gym badges!"

The ship's captain pushed through the crowd and approached Lance. "And then they've taken a lot of our valuables as well, and I'm assuming that some of them ransacked the guest's rooms too."

"Well, I apologize but…" it was clearly very hard for Lance to say this, "I'm afraid that we're in no shape to go and try to retrieve them. My Pokemon have been badly injured- myself along with these brave Trainers along with me were fighting another battle beneath us with their Admins."

"B-but you're League Champion!" the captain stuttered out as there were several cries of despair and anger from the crowd.

"Yes, but they're almost as strong as the Elite Four members themselves," Lance said. "I'm sorry but it's simply too risky..."

"What about the Elite Four?" the captain asked. "Where are the rest of them? Why haven't they come to our aid?"

"They're in Johto," Lance explained. "They're quashing uprisings that have come up ever since we decided to fuse the Kanto and Johto leagues and trying to smooth over the joining of the two. I've already sent word to them, but they won't be able to get here in time. And I've checked- they have sabotaged the Pokemon Storage System and I can't get any of my backup Pokemon out either."

The people in the crowd began either sobbing or shaking their fists at the Pokemon League Champion. Lance took a few steps back as he surveyed the unruly crowd.

Ash really felt sorry for the guy at that point- while he had looked so fierce fighting the Beasts of Team Rocket he looked so unsure while facing the crowd. And the thing was that none of the members of the mob were angry at Ash or his friends- and Ash knew why.

They all thought that Lance was unbeatable, he was their Champion- he was their beacon of hope and could tackle anything. That was what Ash had thought too until now. And Lance had tried his hardest- but there was so little that he could do on his lonesome.

"T-the League will attempt to compensate you for your losses," Lance said. "I-I will talk to the Board of Governors directly. As for those of you who have lost gym badges- there's no need for worry as we keep a digital log of all gym badges that have been given out and we can have them replaced for you…"

And then the last person whom Ash expected to speak up for Lance- Serena, walked forward to be closer to the crowd- and she spoke, "Look, everyone, I know that you're angry- but trust me when I say that you weren't there with us when we were fighting downstairs so you can't know how difficult it was. Lance has done his hardest- and let's face it here, have any of you been injured? Have you lost your Pokemon? Because if not then all of that which was lost was just stuff and I'm sorry to say it, but things like this happen!"

"She's right," Misty said and stepped forward too. "What we need to do now is go back to sure and get all of our Pokemon healed up."

The crowd had calmed down a little at this point and there were murmurs of agreement. Until Gary spoke up.

"I had my Pokemon stolen," Gary said.

There was pin-drop silence the moment he said those words.

Ash saw a tear run down Gary's face. "I was fighting them when they took one of my Pokemon… it was my Raticate. He was already weakened from fighting earlier… and now he's gone…I don't know if I'll ever get him back…"

Lance hung his head in shame. "Forgive me my friends…but I will promise you this- the moment I am allowed to regroup with the rest of the Elite Four I will return and hunt down Team Rocket. No matter where they are, or where they try to hide, I will hunt them relentlessly."

Gary nodded. "And I'll become stronger… and stronger… and I'll come back for my Raticate."

* * *

When Ash had expected to go on a cruise, he imagined a nice vacation-like atmosphere would be there just like they had seen on the brochures.

The trip back to Vermillion City was one of the most depressing ones that Ash had ever been on however. Now that the immediate threat was gone, the damage to the ship was clearly visible and it looked like a typhoon had passed over it… trying to compensate them for that itself would cost more than Lance's entire estate.

And that was just what was readily apparent. Team Rocket had combed through the guest's rooms very efficiently and had taken almost everything and they had no record of what those things were aside from what the passengers claimed they had lost and there was no way to verify them.

The overall mood was dark and the only one who seemed to be somewhat cheery was Emile who seemed to smile no matter what had happened, but Ash noticed that he tried to avoid Gary's eyes for some reason… as if he somehow felt personally guilty for what had happened with Gary's Raticate. Ash had a theory on what was going on between the two, but decided not to press it.

Ash hadn't been sure what to say to Gary. And so he just said, "Sorry to hear about your Raticate Gary, but don't worry… you'll get it back one day. Some day. And when you decide to get it back, know that I'll be there with you, okay. We'll fight Team Rocket together."

Gary smirked. "Huh… Ash, you really think that I'd take you along with me? Well, if you insist, but try not to get in my way when that happens." He then sighed and cast a glance out to the sea and walked away after saying, "Smell ya later." It seemed that he wanted to be left alone, so Ash didn't probe him any further.

By evening Vermillion City's harbor came into view and there was a huge crowd gathered at the harbor. News about the attack must have spread quickly and Lt. Surge was there at the front lines to welcome all of them back.

The rest of the night was busy and Ash barely got any sleep as they tried accommodating the passengers in various places- the Pokemon Center and the neighboring hotels quickly became overfilled. Some people like Gary, as well as Ash, Emile, and his friends decided to set up tents so that space could be saved for other people.

* * *

The next morning the rest of the Elite Four arrived. Before Lance left to go and hunt down the rest of Team Rocket, he called Ash and his friends.

"I'd just like to thank all of you once for your help," Lance said. "I don't think I would've lasted long against the three of them if you hadn't stalled for time."

"it was nothing," Ash said.

"And I'd especially like to thank you," Lance said as he turned to Serena. "I-I wasn't sure how to handle the crowd yesterday. All throughout my career, I've rarely been unsuccessful. And for the first time something like this has happened and I thought I was a failure until you pointed out that I _did_ manage to do something- no one had been hurt and no Pokemon were stolen save for that Raticate which I vow to try hardest to bring back. It reminded me to be grateful for what I'd accomplished. And for that, I deeply thank you."

Serena's face had turned a shade of red that matched Charmeleon's skin. "I-It was nothing really."

"And Ash and Emile," Lance said, turning to them. "I know that you two are very powerful fighters. If you gather all the necessary gym badges, and if you win the Pokemon League, then you can challenge us, the Elite Four, each in a successive row. If you do that, then we can fight when you're ready."

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Look forward to it," Emile said.

"I've been meaning to ask though," Ash said. "Where'd you get a red Gyarados?"

"Oh, now _that's_ a long story, and I've got to go," Lance said. "But maybe when we meet again, Ash, we'll have even more stories to swap and tell."

As Lance walked away and out of earshot, Serena said, "Wow… he's really cool isn't he? I thought he was just being hyped before but now that I've met him… well, they hype him for a reason don't they?" Her eyes seemed distant as she said so and she was still blushing.

"Oh yeah, he's really tough," Brock said.

"Uh-huh," Ash echoed.

"But maybe he should stop wearing capes when they can get in his way," Misty said.

"Still really powerful though," Emile said.

"Yeah," Serena said dreamily before she seemed to realize that the others were staring at her oddly and then snapped back to her senses.

* * *

Brock invited Emile to have lunch with the gang and it was as they had finished that Lt. Surge walked in and said, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Uh, no, but the thing is that the food's almost gone so if you wanted some…" Brock trailed off.

"Oh, no, I was wondering if you guys knew where Lance was," Lt. Surge said.

"He flew off with the Elite Four to go track down Team Rocket," Misty said.

"Oh, well, look, Ash, you've had run-ins with Team Rocket, right?" Lt. Surge asked. "Well, Lance isn't here and he's the expert on Team Rocket, but there's something odd that's shown up while Officer Jenny and I were investigating. If you could all spare a minute to come near the harbor-"

"Yeah, I'm done eating anyway," Ash said.

* * *

"So this is what we've been having a problem with," Lt. Surge said.

Next to the port where the _S. S. Anne_ was docked was a small strip of land on which there was a single truck with a red 'R' painted on the side. And that was it. Just a suspicious-looking truck. An Officer Jenny was standing next to the truck.

"So, it's a truck?" Ash asked.

"We can't tell why it's there or what it was supposed to do," Lt. Surge said. "It doesn't make sense for Team Rocket to have only one truck if they were planning to invade the ship right here, and as it stands they attack at sea didn't they?"

They rode out to the strip of land on a small boat. Ash had to agree with Lt. Surge on one thing- in that it was really weird that a truck managed to get there in the first place.

"Did you find anything nearby?" Emile asked as they disembarked and he hopped on to land.

"No," Lt. Surge said.

They checked the inside of the truck- it was empty.

"But we haven't checked underneath the truck," Emile said and got down on all fours and crawled under the truck only to come back out and say, "there's nothing." He looked crestfallen.

"What? Were you expecting something under the truck?" Lt. Surge asked.

"Yeah," Emile said. "Mew." He sounded bitterly disappointed- like a kid who had found out that Santa Claus wasn't real.

Ash wasn't sure whether he was serious or not.

"Hey, I've found something," Serena said as she saw a small box south of where the truck was. She opened it to see that it was full of cookies. "Huh, why is this here?"

"Using my excellent deductive reasoning skills," Brock said, "I can only infer that the reason that someone bought them was to… eat them." Misty pulled his ear saying, "Oh, you're a real Sherlock Holmes aren't you?"

"Those are Lava Cookies," Lt. Surge said after examining them. "How strange. They're banned in Kanto."

"Really? Why?" Ash asked.

"Because they're used in Hoenn to heal status conditions, and are as good as Full Heals but cheaper," Lt. Surge said. "And so the Pokemon Marts lobbied the Pokemon League to get them to ban them on grounds of safety and saying that there was no real quality control on what was in them, you know, the usual stuff when companies want something foreign banned. But this is only one box, and it was unopened. What was it doing to the far side of the truck? And I don't think they can exactly be sold for a great deal on the black market, at least not much more than with Full Heals."

"I've finished examining the rest of the truck, there's no evidence left," Officer Jenny said. "This all comes out as very strange. Were there already Team Rocket members on board when you had been attacked?"

"I don't think so," Ash said. "We gathered everyone we could see and I don't think someone could have snuck down to join Team Rocket."

"Huh, well, we'll document this then," Lt. Surge said. "It leaves a bad taste in my mouth though, this whole thing. There's something weird that happened here. I just can't put my finger on it."

The weirdest thing of all was as to how the truck got to its current position in the first place- there was no road connecting it elsewhere and there was only the sea around it.

* * *

With little to do now and relief from the Pokemon League now streaming in along with a large crowd of reporters, many of whom seemed to be very eager to follow Ash or Gary or really anyone who was on board, they all decided that it was about time that they leave Vermillion City sooner or later.

Lance and the rest of the Elite Four returned sometime around midnight- they said that they had combed half the sea on the southern edge of Kanto but had found no trace of Team Rocket.

Gary had already left the next morning without telling anyone apparently- Ash guessed that he had taken the news that Lance was unsuccessful badly and just wanted to get away from everything. Despite their rivalry, Ash wouldn't wish a person's Pokemon stolen from his worst enemy, and Gary and he were as much friends as they were rivals.

Later on that morning, Emile announced that he too was leaving.

"Huh? But we never finished our fight!" Ash said.

"Yeah… but we did fight, didn't we?" Emile said. "And that Rocket Admin said that you were stronger than me…. and I hate to say this but I think she was right, at least for night. My Pokemon have just recovered, and if we fought again both of ours would be injured badly enough so that we'd have to stay here for another day or two before moving on, and I'm kind of falling behind schedule as it is. I haven't even beaten Lt. Surge yet and that's probably going to be tough even with an Ivysaur and I'll probably need healing after that fight too. But don't worry- we'll get another fight later, and I'll be stronger then."

"Oh," Ash said. He glanced over at his friends who were currently wolfing down breakfast and who were motioning for him to join them and added, "Is something worrying you about Gary's Raticate? You looked pretty down about it."

"Oh, uh, see…" Emile began and immediately looked downcast. "…The thing is that I fought Gary before, and I was the one who damaged his Raticate in a battle on that ship. I don't think it managed to recover in time… and so it was partially my fault that it was weak enough to be captured."

"That's silly," Ash said. "There's no way that you could've known…"

"No, see, that's the bad part," Emile said. "During the fight Gary knew that his Raticate was about to be defeated and had thrown in the towel and asked me to stop but in…. well, I was just so caught up in the battle that it didn't register in my mind and I ordered my Ivysaur to give a full-fledged attack even though Gary had given up by that point. I said I was sorry afterwards, it was a rush-of-the-moment sort of thing and I didn't mean to cause it extra damage… so it was my fault…"

"Oh," Ash said. "Well, you didn't mean it. And I'm sure we'll get back Gary's Raticate some day or the other."

"Yeah, but you know, if someone stole my Pokemon," Emile said and then shuddered. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we'll meet up later on."

"Yeah," Ash said. Now that Emile had left also, it occurred to him that he should probably get going to Celadon City. He turned to the breakfast table that Brock had set up and as the others were finishing he started grabbing whatever he could find.

Misty shook her head- she had given up trying to correct Ash's table manners a long time ago and Brock didn't care for it. And as for Pikachu… well, Pikachu ate sloppier than Ash. At least Ash thought so.

As Ash was finishing and helping Brock put away the plates, a Trainer approached the and said, "Is one of you Ash Ketchum? Professor Oak has placed a phone call for you at the Pokemon Center."

"Okay," Ash said and went to the Pokemon Center where he saw Professor Oak who had clearly been waiting for some time for him.

"Ash, don't you ever bother calling?" Professor Oak asked. "I thought you had almost forgotten about the samples you sent."

"What samples?" Ash asked.

"Did you really forget? The Pokerus samples!" Professor Oak said.

"Oh, those, it's been so long since I sent them to you I kind of thought you'd forgot about them," Ash admitted.

"Forgot? Do you know how long it takes to clone a Pokemon virus in artificial tissue culture, isolate it, and then sequence… oh who am I talking to about this? You wouldn't know the complexities of viral sequencing and identification if it snuck up behind you and tied your shoelaces together… Anyway, the strain that's infected your Charmander seems to be peculiar in one respect," Professor Oak said. "Normally, in my experience, the virus makes Pokemon stronger, but it becomes non-infective after a period of around two days. But with the case of your Charmander, the virus seems to have completely fused with its stem cells and is still infective and replicating at massive rates even after all this time. But this doesn't seem to extend to your other Pokemon though, and they're currently non-infective and can't spread the virus."

"Is there anything I should be worried about?" Ash asked.

"I don't think so- Pokerus isn't known to cause any major symptoms besides from maybe a mild rash and cold," Professor Oak said. "But the strain that has infected your Charmander is something I haven't seen before. I'll send them to some experts on Pokemon Virology and maybe then I can get their opinion on them."

"Uh, Professor," Ash said, "can I ask which starter Pokemon Gary chose?"

"Huh?" Professor Oak said. "Why this all of a sudden? Ash, if you're looking for information to beat Gary, well, I'm not about to hand it over to you."

"No, no, does he have a Squirtle?" Ash asked. He hadn't asked Gary about those weird ruins and what he had seen back in that abandoned village; it would've sounded stupid and Gary had enough on his mind with his Raticate gone.

"Why, yes," Professor Oak said. "Come to think of it, how is he taking having lost his Raticate?"

"You know?" Ash asked.

"The Pokemon League of all people had to tell me- that boy rarely talks to me anymore," Professor Oak said. "But it must be hard on him in ways that you can't imagine. Ash, Lance needs to find a way to get Gary's Raticate back before Gary ends up growing bitter and cold."

"Does that always happen?" Ash asked.

"With some people who lose their Pokemon, yes, it leaves a large negative impact on their psyche," Professor Oak said.

"You're talking as if you know someone like that, Professor," Ash said.

"Well, only one person who I really knew personally," Professor Oak said. "He was a doctoral student working under me way back when I used to work at Kanto National University. He was very brilliant but always seemed to isolate himself and he… he didn't seem to care very much about other people and things, and would refrain from socializing with the other fellows. I heard one day that he said that he had lost his Nidoking in the forest one day as a child and since then he had found it difficult to trust people. His Pokemon hadn't been stolen, but lost, and still it was enough to break his heart. It's funny- sometimes a broken bone won't grow back properly if you don't fix it back properly. A heart's sort of the same- it might heal after being broken, but if it isn't treated properly, well, it'll grow back twisted and unable to bear the loads that it once could. Don't let that happen to Gary, Ash. Don't let him know I said anything either."

"Did he ever get better?" Ash asked. "Your student, I mean?"

"I don't know," Professor Oak said. "Strange thing is that once he completed his thesis on how Pokemon species originated and changed over time- we call that 'evolution' but different from the normal Pokemon evolution you're familiar with- he just disappeared. I always expected great things from him, so of course, I was surprised by that. I expected him to land up as the head of research in some big corporation like Silph Co. or some national lab. Silph Co. was a very small company back then and I'm sure that if he had joined he would be at a high position today. But I haven't heard a word from him ever since or heard of him from my other colleagues. Been nearly twenty years too and I don't even know what he's doing or where he is. Oh, but where am I getting to, you called me for some other reason. I doubt that it was to hear my rants about Dr. Giovanni."

Ash opened his mouth to speak before he had processed the name that Professor Oak said. Was that his dad? Professor Oak mentioned Pokemon evolution and he had talked about it too so…

"Well, what did you want to know if Gary had a Squirtle for?" Professor Oak asked.

Ash wondered about whether or not to tell him about what he had seen- and decided against it. Professor Oak was smart, but he wasn't the kind to believe in something that he couldn't see with his own eyes. Take that strange Pokemon that Ash had seen at the beginning.

"N-nothing," Ash blurted out. "So are there any real precautions I should take with my Charman-Charmeleon?"

"Oh, it evolved?" Professor Oak asked. "Hmm… maybe you might want to send another sample in case the evolution has impacted on the virus somehow. I wouldn't say that you need to be very careful about the virus spreading- it seems benign enough. But I would advise you to keep an eye out for Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket?"

"Yes, they have a strange interest in learning the secrets of the Pokerus virus," Professor Oak said. "Two of their agents- called Benedict and Cassidy tried to kidnap me once and interrogated me about what I knew regarding the virus. 'Course, at that time all I knew was that it was made from a fusion of the words 'Pokemon' and 'virus' so they didn't get much."

"Alright, Professor, I'll be careful," Ash said. "And I'll ask Nurse Joy about sending some more samples now."

 **Alternate Lines:**

"What were you expecting underneath that truck?" Lt. Surge asked.

"Mew," Emile answered.

"Don't you know you need a level hundred Pokemon with Strength before you can do that?" Lt. Surge asked.

"Really?" Emile asked, sounding excited. "Does that really work?"

"Of course it doesn't- how on earth are you so gullible?" Lt. Surge asked. "I can't believe you believed that for a second!"

 **Even More Alternate Lines:**

"I was kidnapped by Benedict and Cassidy," Professor Oak said. "They wanted to know the secrets of the Pokerus virus."

"Isn't that the name of that actor who played Doctor Strange?" Ash asked.

 **A/N: And that's it. Well, it's been twenty chapters already, and we're pretty far from Viridan Forest at least for now. Thanks for reading, and I'd like to ask you guys regarding how you liked Lance. Was it okay, the way I wrote him?**

 **And in case you're wondering, yes, I've read the Creepypasta on Gary's Raticate.**


	21. Tomb of the Drapion Emperor I

**A/N: I'd like to start off by describing how long it's been since I last updated this fanfic: far too long. Part of it was real life getting in the way, part of it was other fanfics, namely there's another Pokemon fanfic I'm working on that's about nearing its conclusion and of course I want to wrap that up and then maybe focus more on this one later.**

 **But anyway, I will try to update a bit more regularly from now on so you don't have to wait over two months for an update. I used to update this around once every two weeks, I don't know how long I can keep that pace up but I'll try. And thank you all for reviewing.**

Ash was about to get off the PC but then he remembered that he hadn't called his mother in a long time and dialed her number.

It was just usual mom-son talk with her asking how he'd been and asking a few more details about what had happened on the ferry and all and her telling him tips on things he had already heard a million times before but made sure to nod at the right points.

With that done he then went to talk to Nurse Joy who advised him to send a few more samples, which she drew- during the process earning several angry scowls from his Pokemon who did not appreciate having long needles stuck in their bodies.

But with that done Ash went outside to see that breakfast was apparently done and his friends were ready to move out towards Celadon City so that they could finally move on to collecting all the gym badges like they'd (or for that matter, just Ash) had set out to do.

As they set foot outside Celadon City, Serena asked, "Hey… this is something that's been bothering me for a while… just who is Lieutenant Surge?"

"Uh, a gym leader?" Misty said as if that should have been obvious.

"No, no, I don't get one thing- is he like a real veteran? I mean, an actual lieutenant?" Serena asked.

"How do you know that he was a veteran?" Ash asked.

"It said on the signboard outside his gym," Serena said. "Does Kanto like have, an active military or something? Because back in Kalos I haven't heard of anything resembling that…."

Brock scratched his chin. "Well, from what I've heard of Lieutenant Surge, I think he fought in a war about fifteen years back… but that was the sixth Kanto-Johto war and that was over pretty quickly or at least I think so. I don't really know, I think my dad used to talk about it but he didn't mention it that much."

"There was a Kanto-Johto war?" Ash asked. "Wait, there have been six Kanto-Johto wars?"

"Ash, what do you watch on television all day long?" Misty asked. "Yes, there were those, but the last one was waaaay back in the day, even none of my sisters remember much about it."

"Well, I usually only watch important stuff Misty, you know, like Pokemon Battles and commentaries on Pokemon battles," Ash said.

"Come on Ash, you must've seen the movie, _Ten Thousand Knives_ , you know, it was about the third Kanto-Johto war," Brock said.

"Huh, yeah I think my mom saw that once but I didn't really like it," Ash said.

"So yeah, my guess is that was the war that Lieutenant Surge was in," Brock said.

"Oh," Serena said. "Thing is I didn't know- but what was the fighting about?"

"Uh, yeah, Johto and Kanto have a long history of fighting with each other," Brock said. "It all began around fifteen hundred years ago when one of the kings of Kanto decided to invade Johto. There was some problem in the line of succession of the Johtonese dynasty and so the king of Kanto took it up as an opportunity to try and invade Johto. He succeeded a bit in the beginning but it dragged on for a full forty years before finally Kanto signed a peace treaty with Johto. And the story pretty much mimics the same thing over and over again for the other wars too, 'cept that Kanto succeeded the second time around."

"Oh," Serena said. "So what about now? Is Johto still under Kanto control?"

"I think technically it still is, but as of late with them fusing the two governments I think there's just gonna be one government from here on out," Misty said."Actually, that's basically completely taking over the government of Johto now that you think about it..."

Ash yawned. This talk about history was boring him. And the truth was that he was still pretty annoyed with Emile not agreeing to fight him fully, and though he kept on telling himself he would've won, well, it just wasn't the same as having _actually_ won.

As such, he and Pikachu mainly stayed a few feet ahead of the others as they walked slowly towards their destination which was a few miles east of Vermillion City and they'd take the bridge north towards Celadon City after that. Ash kept on the lookout in case he could find another Pokemon- one that he felt would be a good addition to his team. He had three Pokemon already that he was pretty fine with but the thing was that he knew that all full teams had six and he had kept only three for quite some time now.

More than that though, was the guilt that was occupying his mind. Whenever he thought about his father, he couldn't help but juxtapose those memories with how Gary had reacted to the loss of his Raticate. And Ash had helped the team that had taken it from Gary. It was difficult to reconcile those two facts, up till now Ash had tried to get out of the moral entanglement of wondering whether or not what he was doing was right by reasoning that hey, his father couldn't be that bad, and given what he had heard from Jessie, James, and Meowth, chalked up that most anti-Rocket news was just propaganda. But this was far too real and too immediate, in the form of one of his best friends, for him too ignore.

He didn't even feel like talking to the others much really… and try as he might to keep those feelings away they kept haunting him. He had promised to get Gary his Raticate back. He had also made commitments to his dad… was he really going to betray Team Rocket? Was there even a way to do those two things at once? And even if there was, just how long could he continue to keep this charade up?

"Pika pi," Pikachu said and then Ash stopped ruminating to see exactly what it was that Pikachu was pointing at. He strained his eyes and saw that at the edge of the forest that they were approaching- there appeared to be a large gathering of people judging from the multiple RVs placed there.

"You guys wanna check that out?" Ash asked.

"Well, it is kind of a detour, isn't it?" Brock asked. "Don't you want to get to Celadon as soon as you can?"

"Yeah, but I mean, come on guys, I've been wanting to become a Pokemon Master since I was born," Ash said. "And yeah, that means getting all the badges, but I also thought about how cool it would be to explore every nook and cranny of Kanto. And I mean, the Pokemon League's been delaying the date for the final Pokemon League Championship anyway, so as long as we've got some time…"

"Okay, okay," Serena said. "And I think you're right Ash, it would be much better to explore a little. After all, everywhere here is new to me. I'm guessing that all of you guys must have seen a whole lot of Kanto already."

It took about an hour to reach the site, and from what Ash could make out as they got closer, it seemed to be some sort of archaeology site.

There were some workers in dark khaki uniforms and wearing helmets who were digging a hole and were supervised by someone in a green outfit.

"Hey there, what's going on here?" Ash asked.

"Oh, are you Trainers?" the person in the green outfit who seemed to be in charge asked. And Ash had been unable to tell for sure based on her short violet hair, but her voice gave her away as definitely female. And she didn't seem much older than Ash, but she still stood like someone in a position of authority would.

"Uh, yes, we were heading towards Celadon City when we noticed your team and wanted to take a look," Misty said.

"Oh wait," the girl in the green outfit said. "You want to get to Celadon City? I apologize, but you're out of luck. The bridge just towards the east has been blocked by a horde of Snorlax and it appears that it'll remain so for many months."

"What?" Ash said.

"Yes, it just recently happened," the girl said. "And it's a massive inconvenience, but the Pokemon League doesn't want to do anything to disturb the Snorlax's natural cycle what with all the Pokemon Rights activists going around and picketing things and telling them to leave the Snorlax alone. Yeah, so you're going to be out of luck sadly."

"Oh okay," Ash said. "Then we'll just head towards Saffron City then. I mean, it's a detour, but hey, they have a Pokemon Gym there too."

"Uh, I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news but Saffron City has also been in lockdown for several weeks up till now," the girl said. "There's something going on in there and they weren't allowing Trainers in as far as a I remember. I guess your best bet would be to go towards Cerulean City and then head towards Lavender Town, and from there to Celadon City."

Ash sighed. His knowledge of Kanto's geography wasn't too great, but the thing was that he had seen lots of maps of Kanto and was sure that the route that this girl had told him would be a very long one.

"Uh, I'm Dr. Eve by the way," the girl said. "Who are you folks?"

"'Doctor' Eve?" Brock asked. "You don't look that old."

One of the workers topped what he was doing and said, "Yeah, well, Dr. Eve here is a real genius- she finished her doctorate when she was only nine years old!"

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Eve said, blushing. "I mean, I'm not _that_ smart, I got a 'D' once in a class test."

Brock muttered something about this behind Ash, but he didn't hear what it was. He did hear the punch that Misty landed on his head while she said, "Pervert!"

"Uh, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," Ash said, deciding to speak up before things got any stranger. "And these are my friends, Serena, Brock, and Misty. So, uh, what is it that's going on here?"

"Oh, I was put in charge of this expeditions and we finally found what we wanted- the tomb of Drapion Emperor Quan!" Eve said.

"Uh, who?" Ash and Serena asked simultaneously.

"I've heard that name," Brock and Misty said simultaneously.

"Uh, see the thing is guys, while I'd love to give you all a history lesson we're all kind of busy here," Eve said. "And this is technically classified work not open to the public. So I'm sorry about this, but I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave."

Then, another worker paused digging and said, "Hey- these guys are Trainers, right? If you don't mind me saying, ma'am, well, if the League ain't giving us a security team, we could use some volunteers."

"No need to call me 'ma'am' or anything, John," Eve said. "Uh, but now that I think about it, you might have a point." She turned towards Ash and his friends. "Uh, see, normally when the Pokemon League sets out a research group such as ourselves we are provided with some Trainers in case well, something bad happens or we're attacked by robbers or something, but with the current situation in Johto the Pokemon League hasn't been able to assign them anymore as they've concentrated their forces near Johto. So, y'know, well, it looks like all of you have already made quite a detour anyway, so if you don't mind staying with us for a few days you could help us out a bit and get a close-up of this site before it becomes open for public viewing. Whaddaya say?"

Ash scratched his chin and glanced at his friends. "Uh, just how long would we have to be here?"

"Oh, just two or three days," Eve said. "After that, we'll be sure that it's reasonably safe in here- you know thing is we're almost done and the thing that I'm really worried about are rock slides or other Pokemon, so once we hold the place down with your help you guys can leave."

"Pika pii," Pikachu said.

"Sounds good to me," Ash said. "And you guys?"

Once they all nodded in assent, Eve said, "I'm going to need you guys to sign an NDA before we get started."

"What's an NDA?" Ash asked.

"Non-Disclosure Agreement," Serena said.

"Yeah, that, I'm sorry but you can't talk about what you see here with anyone else for another two months at the very least," Eve said. "The League had everyone sign this just as a precautionary measure- but I don't know why given that we don't know what we'll find in there." She led them towards her cabin/RV where she brought out a stack of papers for them to sign.

Once that was done, they began work… which wasn't exactly work in that they hardly did anything but stand around. It wasn't exactly very exciting but it did give Pikachu an opportunity to lounge around in the sun.

All the while they basically followed Eve around (with Brock getting an earful, quite literally, from Misty for being a bit too close) and listened to what she had to say about the site.

"So, this is supposed to be the burial site, or near it, of Drapion Emperor Quan of the K'wa dynasty of Kanto," Eve explained. "And he was most famous for having started the second Kanto-Johto war, which he eventually won. You see, he managed to get the Johtonese to flee their cities once they realized that their forces were no match for his, and they resorted to using scorched earth tactics and gathered up on Mt. Silver where they hoped that the cold environment, steep climb, and wild Pokemon would keep the invaders out. Emperor Quan pretty much figured out that attacking them head-on would guarantee his defeat, so instead what he did was that he surrounded their base and settled in for a long siege. The siege lasted for two months and was extremely brutal on both sides."

"Wait," Ash said. "Is Mt. Silver an actual place?"

"Yes, of course, it's one of the most iconic places in all of Johto," Eve said.

Ash had wondered if that was why Silver was named Silver, after the mountain, but he guessed that no one besides his dad, Silver, or Silver's mother, whoever she was, could answer that question.

"So, what were you saying?" Serena asked.

"Oh yeah," Eve said. "So, the siege was terrible for both sides. Those on top of the mountain had to deal with the extreme cold and those at the bottom were starving as most of the rations they had had been taken out by the Johtonese Army and their food reserves were running thin. It ended up being a battle of wills until finally, the Johtonese could take it no longer and tried a desperate maneuver to get out of the encircling troops and almost succeeded, but were pushed back. They tried again, this time at night, but Emperor Quan had anticipated this and planted wooden stakes and caltrops all around the perimeter, and thousands of Johtonese soldiers ran into them in the darkness. As the sun rose and the clashing between the two armies came to an end, it was obvious that the Johtonese couldn't break through the troops surrounding them. It came down to starvation, or surrender, and they finally chose to surrender."

"Wait, I was right, I have heard of this before," Misty said.

"So have I," Brock said. "This is the Battle of Mt. Silver, right?"

Eve nodded. "Yup. And it is one of the most important battles in the history of Kanto and Johto- from the day that the royal family of Johto surrendered; from that very day hence up till now, Johto had remained essentially under Kantonese control."

Brock's face darkened. "Wait… I've heard of Emperor Quan too." He then added. "He was a terrible person, wasn't he? He bragged about how he had finished off a third of the people of Johto and enslaved another third."

Eve nodded. "The exact words say that he 'slew one –third of the Johtonese, made slaves of the other third, and left another third to starve from the aftermath of the war and made sure that they feared him.' Once the Johtonese royal family surrendered, they were killed and every single other person who had been on Mt. Silver was enslaved. So yeah, he wasn't exactly the nicest guy you'd ever find, but when you look at the moral standards of that era, well, it wasn't as if what he was doing was wrong in his eyes."

"How can you say that?" Serena asked. "I mean…. over two-thirds of them were dead or taken away? I remember on my voyage here that they said that the population of Johto was much smaller than that of Kanto. Was that why?"

"It might be," Eve said. "But I should point out that those figures might not be accurate and most likely Emperor Quan was exaggerating so that the people of Johto would come to fear him. And yes, I agree, he was a terrible person but in those days it was either conquer or be conquered, and he went with the first option. And the thing doesn't explain all of why there's a big gap between the populations of the two countries given that there have been times in Kanto history where large parts of the population were decimated by either plague or civil war. So anyway, his tomb was lost for quite some time but based on some new excavations we did near Fuchsia City we pinpointed the location to somewhere near here and we're hoping to make a discovery soon. And the thing is that the story of Mt. Silver's Siege does kind of, well, enthrall a person, even though at times I do feel sorry when I wonder about all the people trapped at the summit of that mountain, freezing and trying to scavenge whatever food they could find… some of them being forced to eat their own Pokemon in desperation…." Eve shuddered. "But regardless, this tomb should have lots of details and records on how the people during his time lived, and maybe even a more detailed account of how the war went. So you can see why we're all excited to be here, this could be the archaeological find of the century!"

The work proceeded with a large main team trying to excavate the entrance to the main tomb, while other smaller groups like the one that Ash had seen when he had first gotten there were exploring other areas to try and see if there was something around the place that they could find.

* * *

That night, as there were no spare RVs available and Ash and his friends didn't want to go and try and squeeze into what must have already been very cramped spaces, they decided to set up tents just a few feet away from the main site.

Ash was snoozing away peacefully when he felt something hard poke him. He then opened his eyes when he felt it again and saw that there seemed to be a small can near his sleeping bag. Ash, feeling drowsy and confused, moved over towards the can to notice that it was actually some sort of pipe, and there was a single large eye looking at him.

"Shh," a voice said.

Ash backed away out of the tent, his hear racing. Then, a hand grabbed him from behind and then he felt something muffle his mouth so he couldn't scream out for his friends.

"It's me," a familiar voice said and Ash let out a deep breath as he relaxed and the hand that was around his mouth was lifted.

"James?" Ash asked as he turned around to see Jessie and James, and of course, Meowth, whose eye he had seen.

"Well yes," James said. "Sorry to wake you up like that, but we just wanted to let our presence be known and didn't want to risk you waking up your friends or those other people camping over there."

"Oh," Ash said. "Huh, I haven't seen you guys in some time. Uh, how'd my dad take the news on what you did?"

Ash could tell that this was the wrong thing to say given that all three of them flinched at these words and seemed absolutely terrified as Meowth began biting his nails in nervousness and Jessie gulped.

"Oh, I don't want to get into that," James said darkly. "But he seems to have gotten over it partially at least and has given us a last chance to prove ourselves… so we'll be back to guarding you, in case you thought that we were gone permanently after what had happened."

"Okay," Ash said. "But you guys could've said this at another time. Anything specific going on right now?"

"Well, you're going to sneak into this tomb, right?" Jessie asked. "Well, we just wanted some eyes and ears on the operation. It's supposed to be closed to the public, and anything that's supposed to be a secret is something that Team Rocket is interested in knowing. It looks big, and the thing is that our electronic bugs won't work if the tomb is carved deep into the mountain where we won't be able to get a signal. We were spying on this place for several days while trying to maintain an eye on you at the same time."

"Okay, I'll see if there's anything important," Ash said. "But I don't think there will be…." He then remembered what had been bothering him for quite a while. "Hey, wait, there was something I wanted to ask. My friend Gary-"

He then paused as he heard a noise coming from the girl's tent. "Ash? Is that you?" a voice called out.

Team Rocket vanished almost right into thin air before Misty and Serena could come out with a flashlight and saw Ash sitting outside the tent.

"What happened?" Misty asked.

"I uh, heard something outside, that's all, but it was nothing I guess," Ash said.

Mist then started waving her flashlight around and saw a muddy footprint. "That looks like a Pokemon's." Ash was sure that it belonged to Meowth.

"Yeah, maybe a nocturnal one was wandering around near here but I scared it off or something," Ash said.

"Yeah," Serena said. "It always bugs me, sleeping out in the wilderness like this. But most Pokemon wouldn't wander this near a human camp on purpose."

"A few might, if they were scavenging for food on purpose," Misty said. "Oh well, let's try and get some sleep."

Ash returned to his tent. He hadn't been able to tell Jessie and James about Gary's Raticate- he wanted to know if there was a way to get it back. As he climbed into his sleeping bag, he noticed that the hole that Meowth had made was gone now. Brock was snoozing away as if nothing had happened- and not for the first time was Ash glad that Brock was a deep sleeper.

Ash tried to get back to sleep.

He would try and get Gary's Raticate back at another time.

 **A/N: And that ends this chapter. Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked.**

 **And another thing that I'd just like to say is that not once is it ever mentioned that Ash and co. ever wander to a place they've been before that they didn't visit explicitly during the anime. What? Are we supposed to believe that Ash and Misty never once, not even on a vacation or something, wandered away from their homes? I can understand Brock had to take care of his siblings, but again, we never see Misty or Brock ever meet a person who they fought with before. And there must have been hundreds of them.**


	22. Tomb of the Drapion Emperor II

**A/N: Okay guys, we're finally back. Thanks for the feedback. Johnny Spectre, I did not know all of that- or either I did and forgot it, I'm not very good with remembering trivia from the old games. I kind of build up Lt. Surge as being part of my universe- and if it hasn't been plainly obvious already I'm sort of building up quite a bit of tension between Kanto and Johto for the story, so it fit so I kind of wrote it like that.**

Ash had assumed that the 'protection' that Dr. Eve and her team needed would be from strong wild Pokemon, or maybe thieves or traps, but he was wrong.

No, the real thing they needed protection from were the Zubats.

And boy were there a lot of them.

Every single tunnel that they went towards, they would inevitably be set upon by a storm of shrieking Zubat who were none to pleased to have their habitats disturbed. They tried doing everything they could to avoid this- but it didn't seem as if there Pokemon were able to talk to the Zubat and get them to calm down, and while Ash had heard that Zubat were averse to light, shining their flashlights at them did nothing but upset the Zubat even further.

Of course, in a way, Ash understood their predicament. This was their home- and most of them had never seen any humans before. But it wasn't like their team was trying to disturb them or anything, they just sort of wanted to be there and were going to leave them alone.

But of course the Zubat knew nothing of this, and so Ash and his team had to waste several minutes at a time fighting them off. A few Electric attacks were usually enough, but sometimes the Zubat could be really persistent.

After seeing Ash's sour face, Brock said, "Oh, cheer up Ash, you know what Einstein said, there are only three things that are infinite: human stupidity, the universe, and the number of Zubats that you can find in a cave. So this is just a part of life y'know, don't take it so hard on yourself."

"I don't think he ever said any of that," Misty said.

"Yeah, yeah," Ash grumbled. He was angry, but not just at their condition. It was also the fact that he had made no headway in trying to get Gary's Raticate back, combined with the fact that he realized that this whole expedition with Dr. Eve was nothing but a distraction really given that he still only had three gym badges. He was also annoyed that of all things, his journey was being impeded by something that he had no control over.

As such, he was in a surly mood, but he wasn't the only one. Pikachu was none too happy, and for a different reason. Ash tried not to stare at the site where a strange lump had grown on Pikachu's back- it was the same place that Nurse Joy had taken a sample from Pikachu earlier and it had swollen up for some reason. The resident vet of Dr. Eve's camp said that it was probably just something that occasionally happened when a sample was taken, but it was clearly annoying Ash's favorite Pokemon.

But, after what seemed like hours of wandering (though Ash was told it was far closer to under fifty minutes) they finally reached a room which seemed to actually have something of substance in it.

There were two large statues, much bigger than Ash, of which the left had been completely warn out and Ash couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be of, but the one on the right was still standing and depicted some large Pokemon with two claws, but the head was missing from the statue.

"Oh," Dr. Eve said in amazement while Ash checked around for the hordes of Zubat he was now partially convinced were following him for some reason. "I think this is it… the entrance to the real tomb of Emperor Quan. You see, most of these tombs are made with the real burial site, you know, where his body would actually be located in a main hall with thousands of rooms scattered all around them. We've looked into the other rooms and have found loads of neat stuff… but given these two statues of Drapion right here it looks like these are guardians to the tomb. Or were made for that purpose."

"Huh, that reminds me," Serena said. "Aren't Drapion not native to Kanto?"

"That's right actually," Dr. Eve said. "Drapion are native to Sinnoh and a few species might be there in Kalos."

"I saw one back when I visited Sinnoh," Serena said. "They were huge… and pretty scary…"

"You've been to Sinnoh?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, with my mom once," Serena said. "I was only about five at the time so they looked really big though…"

"So, as you're all probably guessing," Dr. Eve said. "the Drapion were actually imported from Sinnoh. Sadly I don't why the royal family of Sinnoh decided to give them to Emperor Quan, but my guess is they were some sort of gift or in agreement for trade or something along those lines. Anyway, records say that the two Drapion that were sent to Emperor Quan were huge- almost as big as a school bus for that matter. And Empeor Quan was very found of riding with them pulling his chariot, apparently they were really terrifying as Serena said."

"As big as school buses?" Serena asked. "Now, I know they're big, but not _that_ big…"

"You're right actually," Dr. Eve said. "But most sources confirm how big the two Drapion were, and from what we can tell, that means that either their size was exaggerated, or they were some sub-species of Drapion that were uncharacteristically big. That could be a possibility given that they were royal gifts and I'm assuming that the royalty of Sinnoh wouldn't want to skimp out when giving to an emperor- or maybe they were keen to impress him. Anyway though, I'm not an expert in extinct Pokemon lines- that's Dr. Arthur's field and sadly he had to stay back because he got down with stomach flu."

Ash took a look at what remained of the Drapion statue. It was much smaller than being the size of a school bus, but then again, there was no reason that it had to be life-sized.

"Hmm, that would mean that the tomb should be here," Dr. Eve said- though there was nothing but wall right in front of them. "Hey- can someone give me a shovel?"

After some muttering a shovel was found and handed to Dr. Eve, who took it and with the blunt end began banging on the floor near the statues, and again away from them.

"See, it's hollow," Dr. Eve said as she banged it on the floor near the statues again. "That means that the main chambers will be here."

"So how should we proceed, doctor?" one of the workmen asked.

"Uh, well, I don't see any other way aside from breaking it open," Dr. Eve said. "But at the same time we don't want to cause a cave-in or accidentally break something. It'll surprise you how often that happens… though thankfully I've avoided breaking anything of great value up till now." She chuckled and the crew began striking the floor with a pickaxe. Once a small hole was made, Dr. Eve peered inside it and said, "There's some sort of stairway here. We'll need a bigger hole."

With some more digging a pathway opened up to a set of stairs which seemed to go on far beyond where their flashlight could reach and Ash volunteered to go first. This was all boring him really and he really wanted an excuse to do something which didn't involve standing around fighting off Zubats.

Ash almost lost his footing several times- the stairs were much narrower and steeper than any that he had been used to. There were no railings and he placed his palms on the walls to steady himself at times and felt the dust collect on his hands.

The others hadn't come behind him yet, so Ash shouted, "It's safe up till now." He then kept bounding forward before the stairs ended in a crudely cut out doorway which he went through.

Beyond it was a massive room- about the size of a football field. His flashlight was barely able to illuminate even a small fraction of it, but he saw glimpses of statues and places where torches could be mounted.

He heard the others stumbling behind him and was sure that at least one person had fell. Those stairs really were badly cut out. He shone his flashlight behind him and ended up pointing the beam right into Misty's eyes, who winced and asked him to stop it. So of course he 'accidentally' did it again.

With the others there, Ash noticed that it seemed that it was Brock who tripped, and quite a few others as well.

"Ugh, those stairs are terrible," Brock said.

"Yeah," Ash said. "It's almost as if the guys who built this place didn't want any visitors."

"Well, of course, most Emperors didn't want their tombs to be disturbed since they believe- oh, you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" Dr. Eve said.

"Yeah," Ash said. He saw that Pikachu was now scratching the swollen area, and it seemed as if it had gotten bigger than before. He knelt down to examine it and noticed it was felt warm- and the moment he touched it Pikachu gave him a light zap to warn him to stay away. Clear the vet didn't know what he was talking about. None of Ash's other Pokemon had any symptoms even close to this. "Hey there buddy, do you wanna go back in your Poke Ball? It might relieve the pain a little…"

Ash wasn't entirely sure if this was true- and for that matter had never really paused to think as to just how life inside a Poke Ball was. Were Pokemon suspended in some sort of holographic environment that resembled their natural habitat? Did they perceive time in the same way that other people do?

Pikachu shook its head. Ash felt Pikachu's forehead and didn't think that he had a fever.

But, it didn't look like Pikachu was more than mildly annoyed at what was happening so Ash decided he would get someone to check on it later.

For now, he examined the room. It was roughly oval in shape, and scattered throughout it were large vertical stone slabs, which on closer inspection were like boxes. Ash assumed they were coffins. There were hundreds of vases which looked like they weighed a ton along with some ancient chariots and statues of men and Pokemon. A few dark tunnels seemed to lead to places even beyond this room, but Ash couldn't see too deeply into any of them.

At the far end of the room, there was a large raised dais with two sets of stairs which were crudely cut similar to the ones they had just come down from leading to a large platform upon which there was a huge slab much like the others.

"I thought just the Emperor was buried here," Ash said as he looked around at the various slabs which must have numbered in the hundreds.

"Oh, yeah, he'd be the only important one buried here," Dr. Eve said. "But you know, a lot of lesser servants would be buried with their masters, and I'm assuming the ones closes to that dais must have Empresses Xi, Zu, and Qi in them somewhere. And the very largest one on the dais must be the Emperor's himself, but you know, it seems a little big just for one person."

"Maybe his Pokemon were buried with him," Brock said.

"More likely his favorite concubines," Dr. Eve said. "But there's really only one way to tell…"

Ash started. "Wait, wait, are you actually gonna… you know, open them?"

"Well yes," Dr. Eve said. "I mean, we've already gotten permission from the League to do so."

"Yeah, but well," Ash said, feeling uncomfortable with the whole idea. It seemed his friends thought so too, and maybe some of the workers who he guessed might have been newbies to the whole thing. But he probably should have seen it coming, after all, this was one reason that all of them were there in the first place.

Dr. Even didn't even bother with any of the other places or to peer into any of the vases- she went directly to the raised dais and began examining the stone slab kept there.

"It's a warning," Dr. Eve said. "It says here that anyone who dares to disturb the sacred resting place of Emperor Quan will meet with a destruction and fate that uh, will involve a thousand poisonous stings and yada yada, it's the same usual stuff I see almost everywhere. Someone get me a chisel!"

"You've done this before?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, only about four times though," Dr. Eve said as she set to work.

Ash on the other hand, didn't join the crowd gathered around the dais and instead, along with Pikachu began exploring the other things scattered around. The vases, though when Ash thought of 'vase' he though of something small in this case must have weighed several hundred pounds. Pikachu bounded up into and inside one, and then emerged with sticky yellow liquid all over its face, which it licked off. "Pika pi!" it shouted in delight.

"Pikachu!" Ash scolded his buddy. "Don't go jumping into random containers like that… and don't eat it all up!"

Ash took some of the liquid on his finger and noticed it was sticky. It seemed oddly like… honey. Yup, it was probably honey all right, but Ash wasn't going to do a Pikachu and actually _eat_ some of the unknown liquid, no matter how much fun Pikachu seemed to be having licking it off its own face.

Pikachu hopped off the edge of the vase and so Ash went to go and look at something else. In a chariot he found a set of armor- or what he assumed was armor giving its rough shape and all. He didn't touch it though- he didn't want to be the moron who accidentally broke something priceless.

He heard a loud noise as they began chipping away at the seals on Emperor Quan's tomb. It was then that something occurred to Ash.

Throughout all the various coffins and containers he had seen… not a single one was big enough for a huge Drapion to be put in it, or for that matter for two of them to be put in them. He didn't even think that a regular-sized Drapion would fit in any of them, and the thing was that given how Dr. Eve had told him about how he loved the two Drapion, it seemed odd that they weren't buried with him.

Ash turned to maybe ask Dr. Eve about this when he heard something. And Pikachu seemed to have heard it as well. It was a strange rumbling coming from somewhere… and then Ash heard a strange clicking sound.

"Hey, am I the only one who hears-" Ash said before Pikachu suddenly yelped and pointed at a dark tunnel. Ash pointed his flashlight in that direction to see the face of a large purple Pokemon. A Drapion, as it emerged from the tunnel.

And there were more of them. One, two, three…. Ash counted four in total.

"Everyone get your Pokemon out!" Ash said. He released his Frogadier and Charmeleon. He had a feeling that these Drapion weren't here for a tea party. When everyone looked at him strangely, Ash once again pointed his flashlight in the same direction and watched as their faces became pale. Misty and Serena screamed- Brock reacted a bit more professionally and released his Onyx and Geodude.

But, it appeared that the Drapion didn't like having light shined right in its eyes even more that Misty didn't, and they all made a beeline straight for Ash.

They were met by a Thunderbolt and Flamethrower from his Pokemon. The Flamethrower seemed to have done quite a bit of damage and discourage them from attacking any further for a moment during which Brock's Pokemon dealth them damage from behind.

The Drapion seemed to reflect on the situation and decided it was smarter to bail from the place and they scurried back into their tunnels.

Several of the workers wiped sweat off their faces. It wasn't warm in the room.

"Well, it was good that we had all of you here!" Dr. Eve said after a _looong_ period of awkward silence. "Yeah, so thanks for that."

"But they were huge!" Serena said. "Just like you said- as big as school buses!"

"And that's probably what he meant when it was written that we would get poisoned and stuff," Ash said. "He left his Drapion here to guard him."

"What? They can't possibly be alive from all that time," Misty said.

"No, what I mean is that if they were a male and female, they could've breeded and led to a- I don't know what the right term here is and all, but a nest I guess of Drapion… and if there's enough food and water, which there might be in the tunnels, they might lead to some sort of enclave which is hard to reach otherwise, they could continue to exist right?" Ash said. "But I guess what he hadn't counted on was them running away like that…."

"By the way Ash, 'breeded' is not a word," Brock said. "But otherwise yeah, that theory could make sense."

"Hmm," Dr. Eve said. "We'll have to report this to the Pokemon League. But I'd love to get a closer look at those Drapion though- imagine, a long-lost subspecies rediscovered again!" She then peered into the coffin. "Oh."

Everyone was looking into the coffin, but Ash was scanning the tunnels in case reinforcements were going to show up.

Finally after five minutes when he was reasonably sure that there weren't going to be any more disturbances he decided to join the others.

Everything inside was wrapped up in layers of bandages which had strange text written on them, but what he noticed was the overall shape of the bodies present there. It seemed three of them had been stuffed into a single one and there were ornaments of gold and silver scattered throughout the inside. None of the bodies seemed to be of Pokemon though.

"Well, I guess this is all for today then," Dr. Eve said. "I'd like to do more, but I don't want to rip apart those bandages if they have something useful written on them. And I think it would be best not to go and completely open up the remains of the ah, deceased, and we could fit it into the CT machine we have tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay," Ash said. He wanted to get Pikachu looked at again anyway.

All of them packed up, and though many of them still cast nervous glances at the other tunnels, they made their way back up the staircase, which, to Ash's annoyance, was even harder going up compared to going down.

Ash took Pikachu to the vet again, and this time the guy said that it was probably an abscess that had formed, and that Ash should get Pikachu to a Pokemon Center real quick.

Ash agreed and went to go and tell Dr. Eve that he was leaving. And his friend also too- while this had all been great and stuff, but they really needed to get going.

But it turned out that Dr. Eve was already pretty pissed given that their CT machine was now not working, and it would take several weeks for them to get it checked on.

"Oh, well," she said when Ash told her about Pikachu. "I guess it can't be helped. This is gonna set us back a couple of months, and by then we'll have new guards. Anyway, I'd just like to thank you and your friends though for everything you'd done. We won't be going back in there for a while though I guess, not with the Drapion around. I wouldn't want to disturb them anway."

It was already pretty late, and the vet gave Pikachu some antibiotics and told Ash that it would be best to get Pikachu to the Pokemon Center by the next day.

"Oh well, looks like we'll have to go," Serena said and then yawned as she went to go and sleep. Ash kind of felt bad- she seemed to have been really interested in all this stuff… and maybe he might've pretended to put up with it all in other circumstances but he didn't want to leave Pikachu like this.

He didn't sleep easy that night though, mainly because he kept expecting another message from Meowth. Man, did they need to figure out a better way of communicating with each other. Like a radio or something. But maybe they had already thought of that and just didn't want something like that to be discovered.

It was while he was preoccupied with these thoughts that he noticed that Brock suddenly got up and left the tent. Ash was still lying still so Brock must've not noticed him, but it did pique Ash's attention. Brock almost never got up in the middle of when he was sleeping… and Ash assumed it would probably be to pee but he noticed that Brock's footsteps echoed out and he seemed to have went pretty far away from the tent.

Ash looked outside and could barely see Brock's silhouette against the landscape and took a glance at his Pikachu, who was now asleep, and decided to follow Brock.

He took his Frogadier and Charmeleon with him though.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading guys, and do review if you liked! No alternate scenes for this chapter sadly.**


	23. Tomb of the Drapion Emperor III

As Ash was tailing Brock, he considered calling out to him several times- but his curiosity got the better of him each time he was about to open his mouth. Where was Brock going?

Brock seemed to be deliberately trying to avoid people which furthered Ash's suspicions and Ash decided to just watch things from afar for now.

Eventually Brock went to the place where they had entered the tomb and then crept in. Before doing that though, Brock glanced around and so Ash was forced to conceal himself in the bushes. Once Ash peeked up he saw that Brock was gone- probably into the deeper regions of the cave.

But it was no problem tailing Brock. Brock had turned a large flashlight on once he had begun exploring the cave, and so Ash was able to follow where the glow was coming from easily without having to use his own. And the sound of Ash's footsteps were muffled by the sounds of wild Pokemon which still crawled around the cave.

Seriously though, flashlights were just so convenient to have at times like these. Imagine if they didn't exist and people were forced to go around teaching a Pokemon a lame HM move just to get around a cave- now that would suck a lot.

Ash realized where Brock was going- the same place they had been during the day.

If that was going to happen, as soon as Brock stepped into that huge open chamber, Ash would be found out.

So if there was a time that Ash should've opened his mouth to reveal himself, it would've been now- but again, this was just so suspicious that Ash wanted to confirm for himself what Brock was doing.

And so Ash hid himself near the rim of the doorway as Brock stumbled across the large room. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash could see that Brock was going even further than they had. What was he up to?

At first Ash had thought that maybe Brock was coming in to steal something- maybe his finances weren't as good in shape as Ash had originally thought. It seemed unlikely to Ash, but given that Brock did have a large family to support, it was one explanation that was plausible. But Brock had avoided all of the treasure kept here and went forward. So what was up?

Why was Brock doing this? Ash scratched his head and decided to follow Brock. But as Ash went deeper, he was suddenly greeted with a large purple mass which struck at him.

He backed away and heard something heavy smash the wall where his head had been a moment ago. "Go! Charmeleon!"

From the flame on its tail, Ash could just make out a Drapion glaring at him.

The flame however, seemed to unsettle it and it backed away as Charmeleon shot a streak of fire at it.

This was enough, of course, to alert Brock to Ash's presence. Then again, it had either been that or impalement by a Drapion…

"Huh? Who's there?" Brock shouted.

There were more shouts from Brock from deep inside and the Drapion in front of Ash scurried away.

Instead, there was now Brock looking at Ash in shock. "Ash, how'd you-"

Brock didn't get any more words out however as Ash grabbed him and pinned him to the floor as a Drapion tail whished through the air where Brock's head would have been.

"Be careful!" Ash said as his Charmeleon began releasing huge streaks of flames everywhere- the fire was almost coming a bit too close to Ash and Brock for Ash's liking. "Hey- Charmeleon- I get you're nervous but calm down please?'

Charmeleon stopped- though weirdly enough it had a strange defiant look in its eyes for a moment and crossed its arms across its chest as if it was a teenager and just about to say, 'Yeah, well, whatever Dad!'

Ash didn't have time to dwell on this though as he grabbed Brock's giant flashlight and began waving it around furiously.

"Okay, no more of them," Ash said.

"Ash!" Brock managed to get out. "What're you doing here?"

"Yeah well see that's easy I was just uh, when you uh…. um, well I sort of had this feeling that uh, so huh and then well…" Ash was struggling to find an explanation that didn't involve telling Brock that he had been basically stalking him for most of the night. He didn't come up with one, so he decided to instead scream, "Yeah, well, what are you doing here huh?"

At this, it was Brock's turn to start stuttering. "Uh, well, you see Ash, that's very simple, I was just trying to go ahead and uh… well… uh, huh, see, well there's this thing that uh, uh,…. uh… HEY! I asked you first, you should be telling me what you were doing here!"

"You go first!"

"No, I asked first, you should say what you were doing first!"

"Yeah, well, I saved your life, you should be the one who's thankful, so I say you should go first!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

Charmeleon, unbeknownst to them, rolled its eyes.

"Okay fine then," Ash finally confessed. "The thing is that I noticed that you woke up and when you didn't come back for some time I got worried and followed your footprints to the cave and then I saw you with your light and wondered what you were doing so- yeah, I was only in here because I was wondering what you were doing."

"Well, I was only in here because I was wondering what YOU were doing!" Brock said and crossed his arms.

"Brock that makes no sense at all," Ash pointed out.

"Right," Brock said and scratched his chin. "Okay… I really can't think of a good enough explanation for this but uh, I came in to see the Drapion."

"Drapion?" Ash asked. "What for? They just tried to kill you!"

"I wanted to find their nest," Brock said.

"Nest?" Ash asked. "You mean like what I was talking about earlier?"

"Yes," Brock said.

"Okay, but why?" Ash asked.

"Why what?" Brock asked.

"Why would that make you want to sneak over here in the middle of the night?" Ash asked.

"Because, well, I wanted to- well I don't know," Brock said, frustrated. He seemed to not want to get the next words out. "Okay, I don't think I would've actually done it- but I was thinking of maybe taking an egg or two from their nest."

"And you would do what with the egg?" Ash asked. "Some new recipe you're trying?"

"NO!-was that a joke? Because it was really bad," Brock said. "Anyway, I wanted to take them because I wanted to raise a few Drapion myself. These are a new strain of Drapion, right? So if I were to breed them I would make waves as a Pokemon Breeder for having discovered them- I might even try to cross them with normal Drapion and see what happens!"

"Oh," Ash said. "So then do you want any help?"

"Uh, what?" Brock asked. "You're… offering to help me? You think what I'm about to do is… okay?"

"Well, I mean yeah, taking away a Pokemon's eggs is sort of bad," Ash said and rubbed the back of his head. "But I mean, we catch Pokemon all the time anyway and they might have families too- hey- why not catch an adult male and female one instead of sneaking away an egg?"

"Ash, I wasn't talking about that, but I guess that is important too," Brock said. "I meant that if the Pokemon League were to know, well, I don't know where we stand legally with this but we could be prosecuted for poaching or something along those lines- and my family kind of still depends on the money my Gym brings… "

"Hmm…" Ash said and rubbed his chin. "Hey! I have an idea! Why don't you catch a few of the adult Drapion, and we lead them outside and have them attack our camp in a mock battle! And then we stage ourselves fighting them and run away into the woods, and then tell everyone we were forced to catch them!"

Brock's jaw dropped. "That's a… perfect crime actually. How did you manage to think up of something like that in such a short while Ash? It's like you're a criminal mastermind or something. I never thought you could be so devious."

"Uh…." Ash said and trailed off. "Well, you are my friend after all!"

"But coming to stuff, I don't think I could ever really do it though," Brock said. "I mean, I've been someone who sticks to the rules and all… and when I think of how it could impact the environment with a new breed released into the battle." Brock sat down and then got up immediately with a determined look in his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sorry, but it would leave a bad taste in my mouth for too long."

"By the way, why do you even want to go ahead for this again?" Ash asked. "It seems important to you for some reason…"

"Come on Ash," Brock said. "Look, it's been fun hanging out with you on your journey up till now, but I came along because I wanted to be a Pokemon Breeder- and not just any Pokemon Breeder, but a great one. Yeah sure I'd love to go around half of Kanto with you guys, but that's not the only reason I came along. I wanted to go and see Mr. & Mrs. Warttenheimer but I couldn't. It just felt like I wasn't going anywhere along in the journey so I thought that maybe this would be my big break as a breeder. But now that I'm thinking about it- I don't even have a plan as to how I'm going to accomplish any of it. And don't take this the wrong way, I mean its been exciting and all, but I want to be more than just your sidekick for this whole trip."

"Yeah, well, give it some time," Ash said. He wasn't sure what else to say- his own dream was rather straightforward and had a well drawn-out path. He didn't know the first thing about becoming a successful Breeder. "I'm sure things will look up for you eventually." He then paused. "Do you think Misty and Serena feel the same way too?"

"Eh, I doubt it," Brock said. "Misty just wanted to get away from her sisters and Serena just wants to be wherever you are."

"Eh?" Ash asked, bemused.

"Ash, are you telling me that you haven't noticed?" Brock asked. "At all- that Serena likes you?"

"Ehhh?" Ash said yet again.

"How dense can you be Ash?" Brock asked.

"I don't think she does, we're just best friends is all," Ash said. "I don't think she _likes likes_ me or anything…"

"Oh my god, Ash how old are you?" Brock asked.

'Twelve."

"Yeah, that explains a lot, but still," Brock said and rubbed his eyes. "Oh well, if we're not going to go and catch some Drapion then what are we sitting here alone in this cave for? Let's go back to sleep."

"Yeah," Ash said.

Brock and Ash wandered back to their camp and as Ash laid down in his sleeping bag, he noticed that Pikachu was twitching in its sleep. A hand to its body told Ash that it was heating up- a lot!

"Brock, come on," Ash said and saw that Brock was already fast asleep and nearly impossible to wake up. "We need to get Pikachu back to Vermillion City pronto!"

 **A/N: So thanks for reading guys!**

 **Deleted Lines:**

Ash waved Brock's giant flashlight around furiously.

"Wow that sounds wrong in my head," Ash said.

 **Even More Deleted Lines:**

As Brock and Ash returned towards their camp, they heard a few voices and both of them hid in the bushes.

And so when Misty found them she found them practically cuddled next to each other behind the bush.

"I was looking for you? What happened?" Misty asked.

"Bathroom!" both of them replied at once.

"You both had to go to the bathroom and so you're in the bushes at the same time?" Misty asked, confused.


End file.
